MOTHER CHURCH AS METAPHOR IN KEY EARLY PATRISTIC WRITERS AND VATICAN II

Transcription

1 MOTHER CHURCH AS METAPHOR IN KEY EARLY PATRISTIC WRITERS AND VATICAN II by Cristina Nava Lledo Gomez A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts, School of Theology, Charles Sturt University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology Cristina Nava Lledo Gomez Sydney, Australia February 2015

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORSHIP...vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..vii ABSTRACT.x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...xii DEDICATION..xv Chapter INTRODUCTION The Problem Brief History of Use of the Maternal Ecclesial Metaphor...4 Literature Review Methodology...18 Soskice on the Metaphor Preliminary Definition of Metaphor Characteristics of the Metaphor The Dynamics of Metaphorical Use...22 a) The Associative Network.22 b) Model and Metaphor...23 c) The Speaker, Hearer, Referencing, and Referent..25 d) Meaning and Reference Versus Sense & Denotation...26 e) Creating New Vision The Dead Metaphor Definitive Definition The Mother Church as Metaphor...30 Thesis Structure...32 A Note on Thesis Length, Scripture References and Gendered Language...35 PART 1 MOTHER CHURCH IN KEY EARLY PATRISTIC WRITERS..36 I. IRENAEUS FIRST ALLUSIONS OF MOTHER CHURCH AS ECCLESIAL COMMUNITY...36 Background & Significance...37 Irenaeus Rhetorical Method..39 Mother Church Texts and Contexts Who is the Mother? a) The Community as the Intercessor, Martyr, and Virgin 46 b) A Virginal Bride...52 c) It Breastfeeds It Teaches d) A Background of Anatolian Worship Mary as Mother Church?...64 Chapter Conclusion II. TERTULLIAN FIRST EXPLICIT AND CONSISTENT APPLICATION OF MATER ECCLESIA...71 First to explicitly utilize the maternal ecclesial metaphor...72 Background & Significance..75 Tertullian s Rhetorical Method Mother Church Texts and Contexts Who is the Mother? ii

3 a) Birther, nourisher, martyr.84 b) Spouse of God, the Materfamilia c) One Who Supercedes All Other Mothers Chapter Conclusion III. CYPRIAN: FROM THE MATERFAMILIA TO THE MATRONA 114 Background & Significance Cyprian s Rhetorical Method 118 Mother Church Texts and Contexts Who is the Mother? The Introduction of Complex Images Mother Church as Mater-Sponsa Mother Church s Remaining Simple Maternal Image Propaganda and the ancient Roman Matrona Carthage s Own Ara Pacis Augustae The Roman Matrona and Cyprian s Mother Church Representing a Desired Unity in the Church and Empire A Jewish basis for use of the mother metaphor..154 Chapter Conclusion IV. AMBROSE: THE CHURCH IS EVERY FEMALE BRIDE, VIRGIN, MOTHER, SISTER, DAUGHTER, WIDOW, AND QUEEN 162 Background & Significance 164 Ambrose s Rhetorical Method Mother Church Texts and Contexts The Mother-Virgin-Bride Context a) Mother Church is a Virgin..180 b) Mother-Virgin Church is a Spouse Mary as Mother Church 193 a) Utilising Mary for Ambrose s Ecclesial Ascetic Argument..193 b) Presenting Mary against the Jovinianist Controversy..195 Chapter Conclusion.200 V. AUGUSTINE: THE WOMAN FROM ABOVE AND BELOW..204 Background & Significance 205 Augustine s Rhetorical Method Mother Church Texts and Contexts A Significant Metaphor among Other Ecclesial Metaphors.210 a) Parallels between Mother Church, Mother Jerusalem, and Monica..212 b) Also a Roman Mother A Metaphor to Oppose Controversies a) Manichaeism..220 b) Donatism.223 c) Jovinianism Mother Church as the New Eve and as Mary a) The New Eve b) Mary 248 Chapter Conclusion..256 iii

4 PART 2 MOTHER CHURCH IN THE VATICAN II DOCUMENTS 262 VI. PRINCIPLES FOR EXPLORING THE MATERNAL ECCLESIAL METAPHOR IN VATICAN II A Pastoral Focus for Vatican II Inserting the Marian schema within the Church schema Mary as Type of the Church and Her Antitype Ecclesial images in LG and in the other documents Western Maternal Imaging in the 1930 s to 50 s Foundational Papal Texts Pointing to the Church s Maternity at the Council The four Constitutions as interpretative keys.293 Chapter Conclusion VII. MOTHER CHURCH WITHIN THE CONSTITUTIONS In the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium (LG) 300 a) An Initial Reading b) Analysis in Light of Vatican II Background and Commentary..307 c) The Ecclesial Mother of LG d) The Ambrosian and Augustinian Key References of LG..314 (i) Augustine in LG (ii) Ambrose in LG In the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) a) Mother Church Texts of SC. 324 b) The Ecclesial Mother of SC In the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes (GS) a) Mother Church Texts of GS.339 b) The Ecclesial Mother of GS In the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum (DV) 346 a) Mother Church Texts of DV b) The Ecclesial Mother of DV Chapter Conclusion..355 VIII. MOTHER CHURCH IN THE OTHER VATICAN II DOCUMENTS Decree on the Instruments of Social Communication Inter Mirifica (IM) a) Mother Church Texts of IM.359 b) The Ecclesial Mother of IM Declaration on Christian Education Gravissimum Educationis (GE) a) Mother Church Texts of GE b) The Ecclesial Mother of GE Decree on the Church s Missionary Activity Ad Gentes Divinus (AG) a) Mother Church Texts of AG b) The Ecclesial Mother of AG iv

5 4. Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio (UR) a) Mother Church Texts of UR b) The Ecclesial Mother of UR Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christians Nostra Aetate (NA) a) Mother Church Text of NA b) The Ecclesial Mother of NA Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae (DH) a) Mother Church Text of DH b) The Ecclesial Mother of DH Decree on the Appropriate Renewal of the Religious Life Perfectae Caritatis (PC) a) Mother Church Text of PC b) The Ecclesial Mother of PC Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests Presbyterorum Ordinis (PO) a) Mother Church Text of PO b) The Ecclesial Mother of PO Decree on Priestly Formation Optatam Totius (OT)..385 a) Mother Church Text of OT b) The Ecclesial Mother of OT Decree on the Bishop s Pastoral Office in the Church Christus Dominus (CD) a) Mother Church Text of CD b) The Ecclesial Mother of CD Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity Apostolicam Actuositatem (AA) Decree on Eastern Catholic Churches Orientalium Ecclesiarum (OE) Chapter Conclusion IX. ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE OF THE MATERNAL ECCLESIAL METAPHOR IN THE VATICAN II DOCUMENTS Critique from a Soskicean Metaphorical Theory Perspective Critique from Feminist Maternal Theoretical Perspectives Considerations Chapter Conclusion THESIS CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY v

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7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A PhD thesis is never just about one person s accomplishment. So many different people and organizations have made this thesis possible. I would like to thank them here. First thank you goes to my supervisor extraordinaire Gerard Moore who has seen me through this thesis process from start to finish with a few bumps along the road. He was my lecturer at the Catholic Institute of Sydney and was supportive of me undertaking the PhD even before I had begun applying to universities. He encouraged me to take up as many opportunities along the way including presenting a paper in my first year of the PhD--yes an unlikely path for a PhD student and something I would not necessarily advocate for anyone else. But because of those presentations other opportunities have opened up. I thank Gerard too for putting aside all matters of the PhD when it was obvious all I needed at times was a cup of tea. Thank you too to my secondary supervisor Gemma Tulud Cruz. She was very generous in offering her time and skills even in her own busyness. I thank her very much for her patience especially with the whole PhD process, which at times seemed ad hoc. The second thank you goes to Charles Sturt University for providing me with a scholarship to undertake the PhD and extending that scholarship an extra six months. Thank you to Hazel Francis for ensuring I received my funding and reimbursements. Thank you too to the School of Theology staff and research students at the Uniting Church campus in North Parramatta (UTC). It has been a real pleasure engaging with you and your work and thank you for your helpful feedback in refining my thesis. Thank you especially to Ruth Fernandes for her ongoing encouragement and collaboration with me on different projects. Thank you Joanne Stokes for being the genius on all matters administrative pertaining to the PhD. Thank you to the library staff of UTC who allowed me entry into the library before opening hours and their helpful services. Thank you CSU for your library book home delivery service. It was a real treat to get those books in the mail. The third thank you goes to the Catholic Institute of Sydney (CIS), my alma mater. It is there where I built my foundations in Catholic theology and found a home for over 15 years first undertaking a Bachelor of Theology with them under a scholarship they provided, and consequently a Master of Theology over several years, juggling new motherhood, teaching high school kids, and completing the degree. Even after I had technically graduated from this home, they did not turn me away as I made camp in one sunny spot in the library whilst I furiously wrote my thesis within a year. Most of the books that I needed for my PhD were within reach for me in this library and I thank the librarians for their generous help and accommodation of me. I particularly want to thank the president of CIS, Gerard Kelly who gave me a room to write when the library had to be closed early for painting. Gerard has been a part of my theological journey since my Bachelor of Theology days. I thank also the friendship and encouragement of Rohan Curnow, Janiene Wilson, and Michele Connolly who have provided me with humour, wit, and insight, helping me navigate through the different stages of the crazy PhD journey and now the crazy world of academia. I don t know if I would have persisted in theology without you all being a part of that journey and continuing to be that support for me. To Richard vii

8 Lennan--a big big thank you for instilling in me a love of ecclesiology and Karl Rahner. Richard was a tough marker back in my Bachelor and Masters of theology days and to this day he still makes me redraft my work at least twice if not thrice before sending it out into the public. It was he who suggested I take up the Masters in Theology, to publish my Masters Research essay, and to undertake a PhD under scholarship. Only he could suggest such things to me and be taken seriously: for I never saw myself as an academic just somebody who enjoyed doing theology. It is almost strange now that my mentor has become my colleague here at Boston College. I guess the good teacher is one who sees something in his or her student before the student sees that something within him or herself. I thank Dennis Minns for reading that first chapter of my thesis on Irenaeus and providing positive feedback it gave me the confidence to continue writing the other four patristic chapters of my thesis eventhough I was a systematic theologian and not a patristics scholar. Thank you too to David Ranson who constantly reminded me that my entry into the specialisation of maternal theology began in a spirituality Masters class with him where I reflected on Dorothy Day s The Long Loneliness and the loneliness in my own motherhood. Yes in one sense David, you might be right. A big thank you to Gerald O Collins who helped me refine my published article From Infants to Mothers: Recovering the Call to the People of God to Become Mother Church for the Eccelsiology journal. That article formed the foundational chapter for part 2 of my thesis--chapter VI: Principles for Exploring the Maternal Ecclesial Metaphor in Vatican II. My fourth thank you goes beyond the Australian scene to Gerard Mannion and Tina Beattie and the libraries of Oxford University and Britain. Thank you to Gerard for allowing me to present papers at his ecclesiological international conferences, a PhD student alongside theological greats. His conferences allowed me to make significant contacts and have opened up opportunities. The conferences have also helped hone my presentation skills, build confidence in my own work, and refine the content of my thesis. Thank you too to Georgetown University, Washington DC for funding my latest ecclesiological conference attendance. I thank Tina Beattie for being such a champion of my work. I thank her for the thorough examination of my PhD thesis, providing suggestions for its improvement upon publication, and for providing me opportunities such as going to Rome for which I was able to take photos of the Ara Pacis to use in this thesis. I am grateful for the belief in my work by such scholars of international standing and I look forward to ongoing collaborations with them in this crazy minefield of academia, theology, and the Catholic Church. Thank you to Oxford University Library and the British Library for allowing me to use their resources and I thank the Uniting Church of Australia for granting me the Uniting Mission and Education Continuing Scholarship of $2000 to enable me to visit these libraries in such beautiful cities. A fifth thank you goes to my examiners Tina Beattie, Ormond Rush, and Anne Tuohy. Your feedback was encouraging, honest, humbling, and thorough. I have taken all of your considerations into account as I begin the process of converting my thesis into two books! A sixth thank you to the religious women who have supported and encouraged me along the academic path, to take up opportunities overseas, even with the juggling of being a mother to young children. The message you have given me is viii

9 that being a mother should not prevent me from personally thriving, and that my gifts are to be shared with my children and the world alike. I have already thanked Sr. Michele Connolly rsj but here I also thank Sr. Patricia Madigan op and Sr. Veronica Lawson rsm. It is intelligent, feisty, funny, and brave sisters like yourselves that have helped pave the way for women to pursue their equal and rightful place in society and the Church. Thank you particularly to the Loreto Sisters of Australia for awarding me the Mary Ward Grant of $500 and to the Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea for their very generous grant of $4,500 to help me transition from PhD student in Australia to International Research Fellow at Boston College, School of Theology and Ministry in America. A final thank you goes to family and friends. To my wonderful prayer group especially Sarah, Linda, Simone, Elaine, and Megan--it has been a real blessing to pray with you and share with you the ups and downs of our lives as women. It was our prayer life that I reflected on in my first publication and I continue to be nourished by your prayers and stories. Thank you to the love and support of my lifetime friends--anna, Joce, Nat P, Nat L-L, Rhodora, Mel, Sarah, Mona, Julie, Dierdre, Rohan, Andrew and Emma. You all know what your friendship has done for me to get me through the PhD. Thank you too to the Lledo s--reggie, Analisa, Roland, Cherilyn, and the Gomez s--may, Brian, Des, Liz, and Claire. You have heard all the stories of the PhD even if you have no idea about this world as Kuya Reggie s question explains: Can you explain to me what a fellowship is? Is it like the Lord of the Rings fellowship? Thank you for your love. Thank you May especially for such love and care you have put into your grandchildren and giving me as much time to write and do research. Thank you to my mum and dad, Gliceria and Reynaldo. This love of theology I know comes from the religious upbringing you gave me, and passing on to me your own interests in making the world a better place through philosophical thinking and writing. To my immediate family--my two beautiful children, Sophia and Julian: it is on reflecting my life with you both that I entered into this area of maternal theology and thank you so much for being supportive of my studies and even the trips away to conferences overseas. Parenting you has at times been tiring even exasperating. But the deep joys and healing received from being your mother overwhelm those frustrating times. I can t believe a person can love another more and more each day but that is how I feel about us. To Adrian--a thank you does not even suffice. You ve been on this journey with me through the ups and downs. Thank you for your patience, encouragement, and openness to whatever it took to make this PhD work. Thank you for painstakingly reading my PhD and giving suggestions for improvement. What a real pleasure to be able to share my theological learning with you, for you to be able to enjoy it, and that I do not have to take pains in explaining theological concepts and terminology. One of the greatest pleasures of our marriage is being able to discuss theology with you everyday. Thank you too for being the hands on dad taking the kids for bushwalks, to the beach, to the park, and organizing meals so that I could have more time to write. There are no words to describe my deep love and gratefulness. Finally, hoping not to sound like an Oscar speech, I really thank God, the communion of saints, the angels, and my ancestors for carrying me through to the end of the whole PhD. Now the crazy academic life begins ix

10 The Church as Mother: The Maternal Ecclesial Metaphor in the Vatican II Documents Cristina Nava Lledo Gomez Doctor of Philosophy in Theology Charles Sturt University, February 2015 ABSTRACT The maternal ecclesial metaphor has been a part of Christian ecclesial language from the early first centuries to the council of Vatican II. The beginnings of its usage are undetermined, and in biblical tradition, the Church was never explicitly named a mother. The first explicit evidence of mother as an image for the Christian community is found in the writings of Irenaeus (c CE) who was writing out of the Church of Lyons. By then the maternal metaphor was already in common usage. But, whilst Irenaeus imaged the Church community as a mother, it was Tertullian ( CE) who was the first to use the appellation more specifically, as an entity separate from the sum of the Church s membership. Cyprian ( CE) further develops the tradition of naming the Church a mother. By the time Ambrose ( CE) utilizes this metaphor, the Church s maternity was no longer the primary focus of description for the Church. Instead it becomes highly associated with virginity. The figure of Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, was used by Ambrose to then support the image of the Church as both virgin and mother. It was he who first named Mary as ecclesiatype in the Latin West. In a similar way, Augustine ( ) also named Mary as ecclesiatype. The first section of the thesis not only explores the context of the uses of the maternal ecclesial metaphor but also the maternal images projected. It asks if this maternal image aligned with surrounding cultural ideas of motherhood and womanhood and x

11 therefore whether the maternal ecclesial metaphor worked as a live metaphor for its audiences. Both Ambrose and Augustine are referenced in Vatican II Council s Lumen Gentium, in the naming of Mary as ecclesiatype at LG 64. The richness of their contexts are not indicated in the documents and more often the references are rather used as proof texts. After considering the imaging of the ecclesial mother in the first section of the thesis (the five early Fathers in five chapters), the second section of the thesis explores the imaging of the ecclesial mother in Vatican II Council s 16 main documents. Whilst in the early Fathers, the place of the ecclesial mother finds some justification, in the Vatican II documents, her place is questioned especially in a globalized culture where it cannot be said there is one common understanding of motherhood and womanhood. The second part of the thesis similar to the first part explores the image of the ecclesial mother that is projected and questions what purpose it serves as a metaphorical device. The metaphorical theory underlying the thesis derives from Janet Martin Soskice. The thesis derives three criteria from Soskice s metaphor theories to test whther the use of the maternal ecclesial metaphor is used as a living metaphor by the early Patristics and Vatican II council alike. Overall, the aim of the thesis is to open up the possibility of recovering the maternal ecclesial metaphor as a rhetorical tool for future ecclesial use. xi

12 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SERIES & GENERAL REFERENCES ACW Ancient Christian Writers ANCL Ante Nicene Christian Library ANF Ante Nicene Fathers Series CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina FC Fathers of the Church Series JECS Journal of Early Christian Studies JTS Journal of Theological Studies Loeb Loeb Classical Library NCP New City Press (The Works of St Augustine, A Translation for the 21 st C) NPNF Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series NRSV Bible - New Revised Standard Version OEC Oxford Early Christian Texts PG Migne, Patrologia Graeci PL Migne, Patrologia Latina SChr Sources Chretiennes SP Studia Patristica TS Theological Studies VigChr Vigiliae Christianae IRENAEUS AH Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies: Refutation and Overthrow of Knowledge falsely-so-called) Epid Epideixis (Proof or Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching) EpVL Epistola Ecclesiarum Viennensis et Lugdunensis (The Letter of the Churches from Vienne and Lyons to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia) HE Eusebius Caesariensis Historia Ecclesiastica (Eusebius - Ecclesiastical History) TERTULLIAN Ad Mart Ad Martyras (To the Martyrs) Adv Marc Adversus Marcionem (Against Marcion) Adv Iud Adversus Iudaeos (Against the Jews) Apolog Apologeticum (The Apology) De Bapt De Baptismo (On Baptism) De Carne De Carne Christi (On the Flesh of Christ) xii

13 De Cul Fem De Cultu Feminarum (On Female Fashion) De Fuga De Fuga in Persecutione (The Flight into Persecution) De Monog De Monogamia (On Monogamy) De Orat De Oratione (On Prayer) De Praes De Praescriptione Haereticorum (On the Prescription of Heretics) De Pud De Pudicitia (On Modesty) De Spec De Spectaculis (On the Games) De Virg Vel De Virginibus Velandis (On the Veiling of Virgins) CYPRIAN De Hab De Habitu Virginis (On the Dress of Virgins) De Lap De Lapsis (On the Lapsed) De Unit De Unitate Ecclesiae (On the Unity of the Catholic Church) Ep Epistolae (Letters) AMBROSE De Incarn De Incarnationis Dominicae sacramento (Of the Incarnation of Our Lord) De Mys De Mysterium (On the Mysteries) De Poen De Poenitentia (On Repentance) De Sat De Excessu Fratris Sui Satyri (On the Death of His Brother Satyrus) De Vid De Vidius (Concerning Widows) De Virg De Virginibus (Concerning Virgins) Ep Epistolae (Letters) ExpLk2Bk2 Expositio Evangelii Secundum Lucam Book 2 (Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Luke, Book 2) Ps47 Ennarationes in psalmos 47 (Commentary on Psalm 47) Ps118Serm5 Expositio in Psalmum CXVII Sermon 5 (Commentary on Psalm 118, Sermon 5) AUGUSTINE AOO SanctiAurelii Augustini, Hipponensis Episcopi, Opera Omnia (St Augustus Aurelius, Bishop of Hippo, Complete Works) Conf Confessiones (Confessions) Contr Cres Contra Cresconium Grammaticum Partis Donati (Against Cresconius, a Donatist Grammarian) Contr Faus Contra Faustum Manichaeum (Against Faustus the Manichaean) xiii

14 Contr Men Contra Mendacium ad Consentium (To Consentius, Against Lying) De Bapt De Baptismo (On Baptism) De Bono De Bono Conjugali (The Excellence of Marriage) De Catech De Catechizandis Rudibus (On Teaching or Catechizing the Uninstructed) De Civ De Civitate Dei (The City of God) De Doc De Doctrina Christiana (On Christian Doctrine) De Trin De Trinitate (On the Trinity) De Virg De Sancta Virginitate (On Holy Virginity) Ench Enchiridion (Manual on Faith, Hope, and Love) En Ps Ennnarationes in Psalmos (Expositions on the Psalms) Ep Epistolae (Letters) In Jo Ev In Johannis Evangelium Tractatus (Lectures on the Gospel of John) Psalmus Psalmus Contra Partem Donati Serm ad Cat Sermo de Symbolo ad Catechumenos (A Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed) Serm Sermones (Sermons) VATICAN II AA Apostolicam Actuositatem (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity) AG Ad Gentes Divinus (Decree on the Church s Missionary Activity) CD Christus Dominus (Decree on the Bishop s Pastoral Office in the Church) DH Dignitatis Humanae (Declaration on Religious Freedom) DV Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation) GE Gravissimum Educationis (Declaration on Christian Education) GS Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) IM Inter Mirifica (Decree on the Instruments of Social Communication) LG Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) NA Nostra Aetate (Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christians) OE Orientalium Ecclesiarum (Decree on Eastern Catholic Churches) OT Optatam Totius (Decree on Priestly Formation) PC Perfectae Caritatis (Decree on the Appropriate Renewal of the Religious Life) PO Presbyterorum Ordinis (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests) SC Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) UR Unitatis Redintegratio (Decree on Ecumenism) xiv

15 For Inang, Susana, Gertrudes, Esperanza, Lily, Eleonore and Gliceria My maternal ancestors Models of strength, resistance, persistence, beauty, and wisdom Models of vulnerability, angers, failures, and regrets I miss you You are my strength From heaven you cheer me on xv

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17 INTRODUCTION The Problem Throughout the Vatican II Documents, the Church is imaged as a mother, sometimes implicitly, at others explicitly as Mother Church (Mater Ecclesia). Councils previous to Vatican II also image the Church as such, all the way back to the First Council of Constantinople, c.381 CE. Before this, early Patristic writers referred to the Church as a mother, beginning with Irenaeus, c CE. Some even argue that the biblical texts Galatians 4:26, 2 John 1, and Revelations 12 form the foundations for this maternal ecclesial imaging. The maternal metaphor s long history is evidence of its adaptability and ability to express the nature of the Church through the ages. But can the metaphor continue to have relevance today and assist in understanding the Church s nature, given that contemporary understandings of motherhood resist any singular and culturally specific notions, especially from the dominant Western paradigm? Or has it become a dead metaphor, a cliché stripped of the web of associations that were originally evoked? If the metaphor s utility remains a possibility, what understanding of the Church would it communicate? Our focus within this broader questioning is its meaning and purpose within the documents of Vatican II. To begin investigation of the metaphor s relevancy, this thesis first turns to the initial ways that key early Patristic writers developed it as an image of the Church community. Recognising their rhetorical genius and the power of metaphors when first utilized, the thesis explores the maternal ecclesial metaphor s imaging and purpose in their writings. References which allude to the Christian community as a mother exist as far back as the 1

18 Apostolic era (evidenced by the biblical references above) but it is in Irenaeus that a clear connection is first made between the community and its imaging as a mother. After exploring Irenaeus use, the thesis then turns to two other key early Patristic writers, namely Tertullian and Cyprian, who formed the foundations for early North African ecclesiology using this maternal metaphor. Next Ambrose and Augustine become the focus. Both use Tertullian and Cyprian as a basis from which to expand ecclesiological understanding, utilising the maternal metaphor alongside other metaphors such as the Church as the body of Christ (corpus Christi). It is these last two authors (amongst later Patristic writers) whom are cited within the Vatican II documents when the Council calls the Church a mother, particularly in Lumen Gentium, the Council s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. This investigation into the beginnings of the metaphor provides a basis from which the thesis begins the project of questioning the metaphor s relevance. If in the Fathers it was utilized for particular purposes and spoke to particular audiences, then at Vatican II, for what purpose and which audience is the metaphor speaking to? Further, if a contemporary audience found this mother image acceptable, then the question arises: Is this because the projected image agreed with the audiences own concepts or imaging of the Church as a mother? To investigate this idea, the thesis explores culturally specific understandings of the mother in the age of the early Patristic writers and in the era of Vatican II. In addition, the writers own images of motherhood are also examined. The formation of a relevant maternal metaphor for the contemporary Church is beyond the scope of this thesis. However, it does begin the process of laying the foundations for this 2

19 larger exploration of the relevancy and questioning the power of ecclesial metaphors for the contemporary Church. That is, not only its rhetorical power but also its political power. For who benefits most from the use of this metaphor? From a broader perspective, this thesis seeks to contribute to the larger task of feminist theologians to reclaim female ecclesial imaging and symbolizing. Even from the days of the early Latin Patristic writers living in the ancient Roman Empire, Mother Church was already imaged as a particular type of woman whose significance was often reduced to her biological functions of birthing, feeding, and nurturing, as will be shown in Chapters II and III. The maternal ecclesial metaphor s beginnings and purpose, as a response to various intra-ecclesial issues, have been researched in the past. However, there is a significant gap in research in the area of the questioning as to what extent the images portrayed of Mother Church, in terms of the kind of woman being projected, align with their contextual cultural ideas and with the reality of motherhood. The reclamation of this image is not only important for feminist theology but also the contemporary Christian community. It highlights the issue of language used in the Church: the purpose of the language, the people who benefit from its usage, and the danger of its use when meaning becomes obscured, because a text/word/metaphor has remained part of the Church s lexicon for centuries despite changes in context and meaning, or worse, it becomes a disempowering tool for the community and sustains unhelpful limiting elements within the Church. 3

20 Brief History of Use of the Maternal Ecclesial Metaphor Recent research shows that whilst other images for the Church have a biblical basis, there is no direct reference to Mother Church or Mater Ecclesia in the Jewish or Christian Scriptures. 1 However, Joseph Plumpe and Will Cohen argue that the origins of the maternal ecclesial image derive from the concept of Jerusalem as mother found in Galatians 4:26. 2 Sebastian Trompe points to the Lady of 2 John 1 as a source. 3 David Rankin points out that the author of 2 John 1 referred to the Church congregation as eklektei kuriai kai tois teknois autes (the elect lady and her children), thus representing the church as a mother. 4 Lumen Gentium 6 agrees in part with Plumpe and Cohen, by indicating that not only Galatians 4:26 is a basis for the image, but also Revelations 12:17. 5 Further, it seems the image of Mother Church was preceded by the image of Mother Faith (Mater Pistis) evidenced in the works of Polycarp in his Letter to the Philippians (c.110 CE), in the Shepherd of Hermas visions of the matron whom he thought to be Sibyl (c CE), and in the reply of Hierax to Rusticus in the Acts of Justin and His Companions (c.165 CE). 6 Amidst these claims, for Peper, the 1 Bradley M. Peper, The Development of Mater Ecclesia in North African Ecclesiology (Vanderbilt University, 2011). 2 Joseph Plumpe, "Ecclesia Mater," Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 70, (1939). This article was later published as a monograph as Joseph Conrad Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia: An Inquiry into the Concept of the Church as Mother in Early Christianity, The Catholic University of America Studies in Christian Antiquity (Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1943). See chapter 1, pages 1-17 of Will T. Cohen, The Concept of 'Sister Churches' in Catholic- Orthodox Relations since Vatican II (Catholic University of America, 2010). PhD Dissertation. See also Will T. Cohen, "The Concept of 'Sister Churches' in Orthodox- Catholic Relations in the 12th and 21st Centuries," St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 53, no. 4 (2009): Sebastian Tromp, "Ecclesia Sponsa Virgo Mater," Gregorianum XVIII, (1937). 4 David Rankin, Tertullian and the Church (Cambridge/ New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995), The Church, further, "that Jerusalem which is above" is also called "our mother" (Gal. 4:26; cf. Rev. 12:1). 6 Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, 18-34; Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", 18. 4

21 first solid evidence of use of the maternal ecclesial metaphor only appears in late second century Patristic literature, explicitly in the writings of Irenaeus to the Church of Lyons. 7 According to Peper, the original purpose of the metaphor was as a way of delineating ecclesial membership in the early North African contexts. 8 This sense is especially captured in Cyprian s (c CE) saying: Habere iam non potest Deum patrem qui ecclesiam non habet matrem (You cannot have God as Father unless you have the Church as mother) in De Ecclesia Catholicae Unitate. Following along this line, Peper says that not just Cyprian but all the early Patristic writers understood the maternity of the Church in terms of God s fatherhood, and thus at stake was one s own salvation. 9 For Plumpe, the image of Mother Church both historically and today continues to be of a mother with understanding and feeling its purpose being to preserve unity among the various rites of the Church and a call for dissident groups to return to their former home. 10 This is how Pius XII uses the image in Castii Connubii (Dec. 31, 1930). 11 Again the implication is the soteriological consequence of not returning to the Mother Church. Here, the purpose of the image is singular and applies for all ages and circumstances. Rankin argues for a distinction in the use of the metaphor prior and subsequent to Tertullian. He states that previous early Patristic writers had 7 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", ibid., ibid. 10 Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, vii. 11 Plumpe also notes the timeliness of Pius use of the metaphor, at a time when motherhood seemed to be degraded. ibid. 5

22 utilized the metaphor as a comforting and nourishing image, relegating the roles of mother Church to simply teaching and nurturing. With Tertullian, Rankin claims the metaphorical use is nuanced, creating a high ecclesiology, such that Father God becomes associated with Mother Church for the first time and provides the implication that without association with the Church, there is no association with Father God. Rankin also recognises that Tertullian deploys the language of his opponents against them, thus his use of the metaphor is also an attempt at its reclamation from Marcion. 12 All three authors provide reasons for the use of the metaphor either from sociological, ecclesiological, and/or political perspectives. Peper takes the extra step of pointing out that even within the writings of one author, the use of the image of the ecclesial mother is non-singular but dependent upon changing contexts or differing audiences. To this body of research this thesis adds an exploration of the surrounding culturally determined images of the mother; I argue that these cultural images are reflected in the differing images of the Church as mother amongst different Patristic authors. Looking forward to the 20 th century, one finds the use of the maternal ecclesial metaphor within papal and conciliar documents, in almost a singular, non-contextual, static, platonic sense: as imaging either a pre-existent esoteric Church imaged in Revelations 12, or the Jerusalem mother from above of Galatians 4, or the Lady elect of 2 John 1, or Mary the Mother of Jesus herself (but the exalted Mary Queen of Heaven rather than the living Miriam of the Davidic line). Rather than a metaphor 12 Rankin, Tertullian and the Church,

23 grounded in the concrete experience of a community being mothered, the image of Mother Church is used as a cliché, not reliant upon its predication in contemporary experience. The works of Joseph Plumpe, Henri De Lubac, Hans urs Von Balthasar, Hugo Rahner, and the Vatican II documents point to this rather singular and idealised imaging of Mother Church. 13 The question that arises here is whether the maternal ecclesial metaphor has become a dead metaphor, no longer evoking the network of associations or extending the horizons of ecclesiology as it once did? Literature Review Peper s thesis summarizes the research on the maternal ecclesial metaphor in the last 100 years. 14 He says although the term Mother Church has endured for centuries, besides a handful of studies on the use of the mother as metaphor for the Church, there remains a great gap in the research. 15 He claims that any studies exploring gender usage in the early Patristic years concentrate more on the development of Mariology or on theological anthropology in Patristic theory and practice rather than on the use of the metaphor itself. 16 Further, he states that other studies have explored the maternal metaphor only in a superficial sense See Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia; Henri De Lubac, The Motherhood of the Church: followed by Particular Churches in the Universal Church trans., Sergia Englund (San Fransisco: Ignatius Press, 1971); Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Office of Peter and the Structure of the Church (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986); Matthias Joseph Scheeben, Mariology, trans., T.L.M.J. Geukers, 2 vols., vol. 2 (St Louis: Herder, 1947); Hugo Rahner, Our Lady and the Church, trans., Sebastian Bullough (1961; repr., Bethesda: Zaccheus Press, 2004); Vatican II Council, "Documents of the II Vatican Council", The Holy See 14 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia". 15 ibid., ibid., footnote 8, p ibid., 12. 7

24 The first significant study on the maternal eccesial metaphor was undertaken by Sebastian Tromp in Ecclesia, Sponsa, Virgo, Mater published in Here the motherhood of the Church lay in her conceiving, birthing, nourishing and abortive capabilities. Peper points out that whilst the categories may be somewhat helpful, the study ignores the contexts from which the images arose and the differences in portrayal of the maternal image by the various Patristic fathers. 19 Interestingly, Tromp was the Dutch Jesuit professor from the Gregorian University in Rome who was the ghostwriter for Pius XII s Mystici Corporis and was also the secretary of the Preparatory Theological Commission closely associated with the objecting minority at Vatican II, particularly Cardinal Ottaviani. 20 The Council would in fact reject the draft, De Ecclesia, initially prepared by the Theological Commission. It would take the draft out of the hands of Ottaviani and his Commission and place the re-drafting into the hands of a special seven-member subcommission of the Doctrinal Commission. 21 Five bishops from this new gathering relied upon the theologians Gérard Philips, Karl Rahner, Jean Daniélou, and eventually Yves Congar. 22 When the first two chapters of the revised text were presented at the Doctrinal Commission, Ottaviani and Tromp criticized the text not only for going beyond the mandate of not adding anything new to the old draft but also for being dangerous and relativistic. 23 Chapter 1 would now describe the Church as Mystery, Chapter 2 would prioritise the faithful as the People of 18 Tromp, "Ecclesia Sponsa Virgo Mater". 19 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", John W. O'Malley, What Happened at Vatican II (Cambridge, Massachusetts/ London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2008), ibid., ibid., ibid.,

25 God, and only then in Chapter 3 would the Church be described as a Hierarchy. O Malley says conservative bishops of the council relied on theologians to formulate and help back up their positions. 24 One of those key theologians was Tromp. 25 This scenario poses the question of how Tromp s maternal ecclesial imaging is employed, especially when his ecclesiology prioritises the hierarchy s authority? 26 His promotion of the maternal ecclesial metaphor would, in part at least, seek to serve this agenda. Further, Peper points out that Tromp addresses the themes of the Church as mother, spouse, and Virgin in a later voluminous work called Corpus Christi, quod est Ecclesia (Rome: Pontifical Gregorian University, 1946), as part of his attempt to construct a stronger Marian ecclesiology. 27 Lumen Gentium also presents a strong Marian ecclesiology as will be demonstrated in Chapters VI and VII of this thesis. Tromp would have certainly been one of the key proponents of this imagery within Lumen Gentium. The next key research on the use of the maternal metaphor is Joseph Plumpe s Ecclesia Mater first published in 1939, later published as the more extensive and seminal study Mater Ecclesia: An Inquiry into the Concept of Church as Mother in It is considered to be the earliest comprehensive research into the area. Even the criticisms concerning his disregard for the influence of the pervading mother goddess, Magna Mater, on the early Western Churches do not detract from its comprehensiveness. It is a study that is seen as foundational when exploring this topic and is 24 ibid., ibid., ibid. 27 Footnote 9, in Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Plumpe, "Ecclesia Mater"; Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia. 9

26 referenced in most subsequent research in this area. His focus was on the historical context from which the mother metaphor arose in the Western Churches of Cyprian and Tertullian in Carthage and the Eastern Churches of Clement and Origen in Alexandria and St Methodius of Philippi. For Plumpe, differences between the early Patristic writers views on the Church s maternity became divided into two camps views lying either from an Eastern or a Western perspective. For Peper, again the study does not capture the developing difference in nuanced imaging of the maternal Church amongst the early Patristic writers. 29 Plumpe claims to present an eternal Mother Church image that was and remains unchanging. With the correction of the dates presented in Plumpe s work, Peper in fact shows that Plumpe s own scholarship presents a changing maternal ecclesiology as the situations of the early Patristic writers changed. 30 Of interest is Plumpe s denial of the Roman imperial mother and the Magna Mater s influences on the maternal imaging of the Church. 31 Three reviewers agree that had Plumpe taken seriously the influence of these cultural icons, his research would have been less weak, especially in the second chapter, Christian Anticipations of the Μητέρ Εκκλησία where he makes such denials. 32 Whilst Peper s comprehensive research, alongside the early North African research of J. Patout Burns and François Decret, forms the 29 Plumpe, "Ecclesia Mater"; Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia. 30 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia". 31 cf. Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, Paul Schubert, "Book Review: Mater Ecclesia; An Inquiry into the Nature of the Church as Mother in Early Christianity," Church History 13, no. 4 (1944): ; E. Evans, "Book Review: Mater Ecclesia," The Classical Review 59, no. 1 (1945): 27; William M. Green, "Book Review: Mater Ecclesia; An Inquiry into the Concept of the Church as Mother in Early Christianity," Classical Philology 40, no. 1 (1945):

27 foundation for the early Church Fathers section of this thesis, 33 Peper s paper does not show any studies on the topic post early Patristic period to the 20 th century. My own research has not uncovered any studies that directly explore the topic of mother as metaphor for the Church in the Middle Ages, which do not also associate the term with Mary and the high Mariology of the time. The devotion to Mary was usually equated with complete devotion to the Church as mother also. Certainly by the time Mary was given the title Mater Ecclesiae, Mother of the Church, in 1964 by Pope Paul VI, at the Third Session of Vatican II Council, a blurring of lines between Church as mother and Mary had been achieved. 34 There is renewed interest in the topic of Church as mother from the period of Vatican II onwards. The ressourcement movement created new interest in Patristic ecclesiology and thus led to investigations of the maternal image for the Church. The works of significant mention are: Karl Delahaye s Ecclesia Mater chez les pères des trois premiers siècles published in 1964, Henri De Lubac s The Motherhood of the Church followed by Particular Churches in the Universal Church published in 1971, and Hans Urs von Balthasar s The Office of Peter and the Structure of the Church published in See J. Patout Burns, "The Holiness of the Church in North African Theology," Studia Patristica XLIX, (2010): ; ibid.; François Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa, trans., Edward Smither (Cambridge: James Clarke & Co, 2011). 34 See Marina Warner, Alone of All Her Sex: the Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary, 1st Vintage Books ed. (1976; repr., New York: Vintage Books, 1983), 194, 198, 220, 258; Rahner, Our Lady and the Church, Bullough; Rene Laurentin, Mary's Place in the Church, trans., I.G. Ridoux (London: Burns & Oates, 1965); Alfred McBride, Images of Mary (Cincinnati, Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1999), ; Robert L. Fastiggi, "Mary: Exemplar of Faithful Love for Virgins, Spouses, Mothers and the Church," Ave Maria Law Review 8, (2010): Karl Delahaye, Ecclesia Mater chez les pe res des trois premiers sie cles; pour un renouvellement de la pastorale d'aujourd'hui, Unam Sanctam (Paris,: E ditions du Cerf, 1964); De Lubac, The Motherhood of the Church, Englund; Balthasar, The Office of Peter and the Structure of the Church. 11

28 Delahaye largely repeats the findings of Plumpe s study by dichotomizing the image into the Latin or Greek image of the mother whilst De Lubac takes up a more generalized argument that the mother from Hellenism and paganism is what forms the image of the Church as mother. 36 De Lubac s aim was to highlight the importance of relationships within the Church and to discourage the tendency to divide the clergy from the laity. Of interest is De Lubac s insistence that the maternal image of the Church is unlike human motherhood. For De Lubac, growth in adult faith in the Church only creates a stronger bond between the Church and its members rather than a separation as in the case of human motherhood and its growing child. 37 There are other recent works which have explored the maternal imaging of the Church such as David Rankin s Tertullian and the Church published in 1995, F. Ledegang s Mysterium Ecclesiae: Images of the Church and Its Members in Origen published in 2001, and Robin M. Jensen s Mater Ecclesia and Fons Aeterna: The Church and her Womb in Ancient Christian Tradition published in These works concentrate on particular areas of study relating to the maternal ecclesial metaphor rather than attempting to create a wide-ranging exploration such as Plumpe s and Peper s. More comprehensive works focused in this area are: Hugo Rahner s Our Lady and the Church first published in 1961, Sally Cunneen s Mother 36 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia". 37 De Lubac, The Motherhood of the Church, Englund, Rankin, Tertullian and the Church; F. Ledegang, Mysterium Ecclesiae: Images of the Church and its Members in Origen, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium (Leuven: Leuven University Press/ Peeters, 2001); Robin M. Jensen, "Mater Ecclesia and Fons Aeterna: The Church and Her Womb in Ancient Christian Tradition," in A Feminist Companion to Patristic Literature ed. Amy-Jill Levine with Maria Mayo Robbins(London/ New York: T&T Clark International, 2008). 12

29 Church: What the Experience of Women Is Teaching Her published in 1991, Carl E. Braaten s Mother Church: Ecclesiology and Ecumenism published in 1998, and a section within Will T. Cohen s doctoral dissertation The Concept of Sister Churches In Catholic-Orthodox Relations since Vatican II published in Hugo Rahner is just one of numerous authors who follow the later development in the Patristic writers of equating the Church s motherhood with the divine motherhood of Mary. Taking this line of study complicates the exploration of the Church as mother, as the research veers into more of a Mariological study wherein the maternal metaphor for the Church becomes collapsed into the figure of Mary. It was Rahner who rediscovered the description of Mater Ecclesia ( Mother of the Church ) as applied to Mary in the writings of Ambrose. In fact, in a blurb on the English edition of Rahner s Our Lady and the Church (printed 2005), Cardinal Ratzinger is quoted as saying Hugo Rahner's great achievement was his rediscovery, in the Fathers, of the indivisibility of Mary and the Church. However, I argue that this high Mariological ecclesiology is a later development that is erroneously being read back into the early Patristic writings that I will be examining. Thus this thesis rejects the indivisibility of Mary and the Church and aims to take seriously the study of the metaphor as text in itself, and hence the function of the mother in Mother Church will be explored separately from Mary. There is merit in exploring Mary as the ecclesiatype for the Church and this concept is briefly investigated where relevant. In particular, this exploration becomes unavoidable once Ambrose and 39 Rahner, Our Lady and the Church, Bullough; Sally Cunneen, Mother Church: What the Experience of Women is Teaching Her (New York: Paulist Press, 1991); Carl E. Braaten, Mother Church: Ecclesiology and Ecumenism (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998); Cohen, "The Concept of 'Sister Churches' in Catholic-Orthodox Relations since Vatican II". 13

30 Augustine introduce Mary as a type for the Church. However, this will not be the focus nor take up a large section of the thesis given that the aim of this work is to explore the rhetorical function of the maternal metaphor. Cuneen exemplifies the feminist attempt at expanding the image by taking seriously the reality of everyday motherhood, hoping in turn to change the way that the Church mothers her members and suggesting even how members can mother each other. 40 This thesis agrees that the current image of the Church as Mother in official Catholic documents needs to be expanded. Yet by concentrating on one medium of revelation (daily experience), Cuneen s arguments show no way in which the Church can move from its current modus operandi, formed over centuries by biblical tradition, the thought of early Patristic writers, and various councils, to what she logically suggests from an anthropological point of view. Braaten, a Lutheran and proponent of the ecumenical movement, analyses the current problems of the Protestant Churches (especially from the Lutheran point of view) and the Catholic Church. 41 He poses the question of the ending of denominations and their return to the one universal mother Church. The move is not in the sense of simplistic fashion but rather a leaning inwards from both sides the Protestant Churches working as leaven for the Catholic Church moving it to reform away from an authoritarian Tridentine mode of thinking and the Catholic Church giving back to the Protestant Churches things Braaten sees as lacking such as sacramentality and authoritative structure. Braaten s use of the mother exemplifies the assumption made on the term Mother Church in the 20 th - 21 st century, that it is taken to mean as the universal Church, the original 40 Cunneen, Mother Church. 41 Braaten, Mother Church. 14

31 Church of the apostles, pre-reformation. For him the main focus for study on the image of Mother Church is its potential contribution to the ecumenical movement, not the questioning of its function as a metaphor. Cohen takes up the issue of the use of the Mother Church as assumed to be the universal, pre-reformation Church in the bigger exploration of the use of the sister metaphor to describe the relationship between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. 42 The study is of considerable pertinence to this thesis because it questions the Vatican use of the term sister Churches in terms of the Mother Church, in a document written by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Note on the Expression Sister Churches in Cohen argues that the early Church did not have the one sense or constant image of Mother Church. From the perspective of studies in metaphor, the maternal ecclesial image is overlooked in preference for exploring metaphors for God-naming as seen in Janet Martin Soskice s Metaphor and Religious Language and Sallie McFague s Metaphorical Theology. 43 McFague also studies the biblical parable as a metaphor in Speaking in Parables. 44 But it is ecclesial metaphors rather than metaphors for God which are of greater concern in this thesis. Herwi Rikhof s The Concept of Church: A Methodological Inquiry into the Use of Metaphors in Ecclesiology delves into ecclesial metaphors such as People of God and Body of Christ and yet does not 42 Cohen, "The Concept of 'Sister Churches' in Catholic-Orthodox Relations since Vatican II". 43 Janet Martin Soskice, Metaphor and Religious Language (Oxford/ London/ New York: Clarendon Press/ Oxford University Press, 1985); Sallie McFague, Metaphorical Theology: Models of God in Religious Language (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982). 44 Sallie McFague, Speaking in Parables: A Study in Metaphor and Theology (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975). 15

32 explore the maternal metaphor. 45 Recently, Jeannine Hill Fletcher published Motherhood as Metaphor: Engendering Interreligious Dialogue and like Cunneen, she focuses on the realities of women as a starting point for theologizing but her focus is on interreligious dialogue. 46 In terms of feminist and/or maternal theory critiques on the Church as a mother or even simply the concept of the mother in the Christian setting, the critiques have in the past more often focused on Mary as mother, on God as mother, or the entangled image of womanhood with motherhood: 47 critiques of the Church as feminine-maternal become corollary only to the main focus of contextualising Mary in her proper ecclesial setting. In addition, as shown in the literature review above, the concept of Mother Church has been predominantly the domain of male theologians whose least concern, if any at all, is a feminist-maternal critique. In saying this, there have been a few works that have paved the way for this feminist engagement with the maternal Church. Those works are: Sally Cunneen s Mother Church as already mentioned; Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza s Discipleship of Equals: A Critical Feminist Ekkle sia-logy of Liberation published in 1994; Tina Beattie s God s Mother, Eve s Advocate 45 Herwi Rikhof, The Concept of the Church: A Methodological Inquiry into the Use of Metaphors in Ecclesiology (London and Shepherdstown: Sheed and Ward/ Patmos Press, 1981). 46 Jeannine Hill Fletcher, "Motherhood as Metaphor: Engendering Interreligious Dialogue," (2013). 47 Cf. for example, Cristina Grenholm, Motherhood and Love : Beyond the Gendered Stereotypes of Theology (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub., 2011); Elizabeth Johnson, Truly Our Sister (New York/ London: Continuum, 2003); Elizabeth A. Johnson, She Who Is : The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse (New York: Crossroad, 1992); Warner, Alone of All Her Sex; Andrew M. Greeley, The Mary Myth : On the Femininity of God (New York: Seabury Press, 1977); Julia Kristeva, "L'Héréthique de l'amour," Tel Quel 74, no. Winter (1977).Subsequently published as "Stabat Mater" in Kristeva, Histoires d'amour, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (Paris: Denoël, 1983). 16

33 published in 1999 and The maternal Church in New Catholic Feminism: Theology and Theory published in 2006; and Natalia Imperatori-Lee s thesis, The Use of Marian Imagery in Catholic Ecclesiology since Vatican II published in Cunneen s contribution has already been discussed. Schüssler Fiorenza s Discipleship of Equals focuses on the recovery of women s place in the Church and their reclamation of that place. Imperatori-Lee s thesis shows the ecclesial contextualization of Mary at Vatican II. She then explores Balthasar s gendered ecclesiology which is reflected at Vatican II, expressing itself as a feminine-marian Church against a masculine-clerical image. Imperatori-Lee uses Elizabeth Johnson and Latino mariological perspectives to reappropriate Mariology and Ecclesiology for the contemporary American Christian setting. Tina Beattie s God s Mother, Eve s Advocate, engages with a range of traditional sources for the Church (texts from Genesis, Augustine, early Church doctrine on Mary and writings on Eve) alongside secular texts (such as the feminist-maternal philosophy of Luce Irigaray, René Girard s perspectives on violence, and contemporary reflections of Catholic women) to reconceptualise Mary, Eve, and the Priesthood for the contemporary Church. In New Catholic Feminism she dedicates a small section on the exploration of the very concept of the maternal Church. She uses contemporary authors Irigaray, De Lubac, and Monica Miller alongside early Patristci writers Ambrose and Augustine to undertake this exploration. Like Beattie this thesis seeks to engage with the 48 Cunneen, Mother Church; Elisabeth Schu ssler Fiorenza, Discipleship of Equals : A Critical Feminist Ekkle sia-logy of Liberation (New York: Crossroad, 1993); Tina Beattie, "God's mother, Eve's advocate a Marian narrative of women's salvation," (2002); Tina Beattie, "The maternal Church," in New Catholic Feminism: Theology and Theory(London; New York: Routledge, 2006); Natalia M. Imperatori-Lee, The Use of Marian Imagery in Catholic Ecclesiology since Vatican II (2007). 17

34 traditional source of Early Patristic writing (Chapters 1 to V) alongside contemporary feminist-maternal theory (in Chapter IX of this thesis) to critique the use of Mother Church in the Vatican II documents. It is noted here that the contemporary feminist critique is very limited because the greater priority is the exploration of Mother Church in its early conception and at Vatican II. But having done this groundwork, I anticipate that the greater engagement with feminist-maternal theory will be undertaken in a publication subsequent to this thesis. Methodology This thesis takes a ressourcement-type theological approach, where the origins and early developmental use of the maternal ecclesial metaphor are explored. In particular, articles 63 and 64 of Lumen Gentium (LG) are the key passages in which the Church is described as a Mother as Mary as the entire community and it is in these articles that the early Patristics, Ambrose and Augustine are utilised to justify such a description for the Church. By returning to these Patristic sources, the thesis seeks to recover the essential dimensions of their uses of Mother Church and can then investigate whether or not the application of Mother Church in LG 64 and 65, expresses those essential dimensions. LG 64 and 65 alongside LG 65 call the entire community to become like Mother Church like Mary by engaging in the Church s apostolic work but what did Ambrose and Augustine have to say on this image of the Church as mother as Mary as the community? The thesis utilises Soskice s metaphorical theory for the analysis of the maternal ecclesial metaphor. Her theories are chosen above others including those of Paul Ricoeur s, Sallie McFague s, and George Lakoff 18

35 and George Johnson s. The common weakness to be found in these theories is the reduction of the metaphor to a two-point theory that it expresses a falseness and truthfulness about an object or concept. 49 Yet Soskice argues that there can only be a truthfulness communicated by the metaphor otherwise it is nonsensical. 50 McFague, Lakoff and Johnson 51 reduce the metaphor to the meaning of the word. Meanwhile, Ricoeur expands the horizon by stating that the metaphor s meaning is found in the sentence. To this Soskice argues that we need not, however, replace the hegemony of the word with an hegemony of the sentence. 52 For her, the meaning of the metaphor is not found in the lexeme, or even in the sentence, but in the entire utterance of a speaker who speaks from a particular context. This concept is explored further in the methodology section below. The renewed interest into the exploration of the feminine gender or terms for the Church as metaphorically significant has shown itself in the topics of three theses presented in the last 5 years. Two have already been referenced Peper s exploration of the Mater Ecclesia in early North African ecclesiology in 2011 and Cohen s exploration of the sisterhood of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Lora Walsh s doctoral thesis on When the Church s Gender Mattered: Ecclesia in Trans-Reformation 49 See Towards the concept of metaphorical truth pp , in Paul Ricoeur, The Rule of Metaphor: Multi-Disciplinary Studies of the Creation of Meaning in Language, trans., Robert Czerny with Kathleen McLaughlin and John Costello (London and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978). See also McFague, Metaphorical Theology, For Lakoff and Johnson s theory on the dual meaning of a metaphor, see Metaphorical Systematicity: Highlighting and Hiding in George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980). 50 Cf. Are all metaphors false? In Soskice, Metaphor and Religious Language, Soskice also criticizes Lakoff and Johnson s metaphor-as myth thesis wherein human thought falls victim to language, particularly metaphorical language since their view is metaphor forms the implicit and unrecognized structure of most human life. Soskice says Carried to an extreme, it is in danger of falling into the fallacy of confusing word derivation with word meaning. In ibid., ibid.,

36 England, presented in 2010, adds to this line of renewed interest in the topic. 53 Walsh proposes in her study that the gender of the Church was intentionally utilized for the purposes of appropriation in trans-reformation England rather than a term merely called upon as part of a tradition dating back to the early Patristic writers. Additionally, Pope Francis himself has utilized the metaphor a number of times, creating headlines all over the world communicating the following ideas: Mother Church is not a babysitter, Be a Mother, Not an Old Maid and Church is a Mother not an NGO. 54 For him, among all ecclesial metaphors he states that this is his favourite: Today I am returning to the image of the Church as mother. I am extremely fond of this image of the Church as mother. For this reason I wish to return to it, because I feel that this image not only tells us what the Church is like but also what face the Church this Mother Church of ours should increasingly have. 55 Soskice on the Metaphor 1) Preliminary Definition of Metaphor For Soskice, in broad terms, a metaphor is recognized as: the minimal unit in which a metaphor is established is semantic rather than syntactic; a metaphor is established as soon as it is clear that one thing is being spoken in terms that are suggestive of another and can be extended, that is, until the length of our speaking of one thing in terms suggestive of another makes us forget the thing of which we speak Lora Walsh, When the Church's Gender Mattered: Ecclesia in Trans-Reformation England (Northwestern University, 2010). 54 Cf. News.VA, The Church is not a babysitter, (accessed January 5, 2015); The Telegraph, Pope Francis urges nuns not to be 'old maids', (accessed January 5, 2015); Vatican Radio, Pope Francis: Church a Mother not a [sic] NGO, / (accessed January 5, 2015). 55 Pope Francis, "General Audience, St Peter s Square, Wednesday 18 September, 2013" (accessed January 5, 2015). 56 Soskice, Metaphor and Religious Language,

37 The meaning of this broad definition makes sense in considering the characteristics of the metaphor, the dynamics of metaphorical use, and its contrast with the dead metaphor. These concepts are explored below. 2) Characteristics of the Metaphor By discussing what a metaphor is not (a via negativa approach), Soskice suggests these characteristics of the metaphor: (1) it is linguistic, (2) it has no set structure, (3) it is cognitive, and (4) its meaning is found from within a speaker s whole utterance, wherein the speaker belongs to a particular community. First, it is linguistic because it is a figure of speech rather than an act, fusion, or perception. Were this not the case we should not know where to look for metaphor at all. 57 Further it is not an object as objects are not linguistic. 58 Second, it has no set structure or syntactic form. Yet it is a most pervasive opinion that there is such an external structure to metaphor and that it is one which involves two terms which are contrasted and compared. 59 As highlighted already, Soskice contrasts well known theorists on the metaphor such as Max Black, George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, Sallie McFague, and Paul Ricoeur, by arguing that metaphor cannot be reduced to lexemes, with meanings of themselves without context, as argued by Black, Lakoff and Johnson, or even the sentence, as argued by Ricoeur. Third, the metaphor is cognitive. Soskice says an indication of a good metaphor is if it is unnecessary to spell out its implications for the readers. 60 Unlike a number of tropes such as simile, 57 ibid., ibid., ibid., ibid.,

38 synecdoche, and metonomy, metaphor increases understanding 61 rather than concealing or acting as mere ornamental rhetorical tool, which has affective impact but no increment to meaning. 62 Fourth, as also highlighted already, meaning is found in the speaker s whole utterance rather than in a lexeme or even a sentence. Just as terms do not have meaning per se on their own except in the context of the speaker s referring, the speaker does not speak in a vacuum but rather from within a community. This is the only way in which one is to make sense of the speaker s entire utterance. For Soskice, a community will be steeped in a tradition of use of metaphors and other language and the source of their language is found in part through their texts. 63 3) The Dynamics of Metaphorical Use Further insight into Soskice s metaphor theory is found in investigating the elements of the dynamics of metaphorical use. These elements are the associative network, the model in religious language, referencing by a speaker, meaning and reference in an utterance versus sense and denotation of a word, and metaphor as creating new vision. a) The Associative Network While we deny that metaphors have two subjects, we agree that each metaphor involves at least two different networks of associations. 64 Returning to the misleading view of metaphor as represented in the structure A is like B, Soskice says metaphor is not found in two words or two concepts within a sentence that have meaning in themselves, which are 61 ibid., ibid., Cf. Soskice on the Old Testament as the source for the Christian community s descriptive language, especially metaphors in ibid., ibid.,

39 then compared and contrasted with each other. Rather, metaphor is found in the whole utterance where at least two subjects are being spoken of and bring up a whole set of associations for its audience. This is the associative network with which Soskice speaks of. b) Model and Metaphor Our suggestion is that model and metaphor are closely linked; when we use a model, we regard one thing or state of affairs in terms of another, and when we use a metaphor, we speak of one thing or state of affairs in language suggestive of another. This close association of model and metaphor is important not only for explaining how metaphors work but for explaining why metaphors can be so useful. 65 Soskice defines the model as: An object or state of affairs is a model when it is viewed in terms of its resemblance, real or hypothetical, to some other object or state of affairs; a miniature train is a model of the full-scale one, a jam jar full of cigarette ends is seen as a model for the lungs of a smoker, the behavior of water is seen as a model for the action of electricity. 66 In contrast to Max Black, whom Soskice critiques as conflating the metaphor and model, Soskice distinguishes between the two by pointing to metaphor as a figure of speech, a speaking about one thing or state of affairs in terms suggestive of another whilst the model need not be linguistic at all, as with a model train. 67 Yet their close relation remains as Soskice says: 65 ibid., ibid., ibid. Metaphors arise when we speak on the basis of models; so if we are using the computer as a model for the brain and consequently speak of neural programming, input, and feedback, we are speaking metaphorically on the basis of the computer model; the intelligibility of these terms depends, initially at least, on their being related to this particular model of the brain ibid.,

40 In science, there are two types of models the homeomorph and the paramorph. In the homeomorphic model, the subject of the model is also the source. Philip Pettit uses the example of a doll and baby. Here the doll is considered a model of a baby but also the doll is modeled on the baby. Apropos the paramorphic model, the subject and source differ. 69 Soskice says with religious language, it is more likely that paramorphic models are utilized since they deal with the whole realm of abstract theorising in science and thus for religious language, they are used as attempts to speak about the mysterious overplus. 70 Further, the model has the ability to evoke an emotional, moral, or spiritual response. Even then it also has a cognitive and/ or explanatory function. Indeed, Soskice claims the model can only be affective because it is taken as explanatory. 71 For the Christian community their models derive from a tradition of use and re-use of particular models over time, not because they are taken to to be elegant and compelling but because they believe them in some way to depict states and relations of a transcendent kind. 72 Further the Christian community believes those models to be the most adequate available to them at the time. 73 Just as a good metaphor opens up possibilities for greater understanding or clarification, a good model also suggests possibilities. 74 As well, those models are embedded in Scripture and tradition, and the subject of innumerable glosses and reinterpretations by the Christian 69 Philip Pettit, The Concept of Structuralism: A Critical Analysis (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1975), Soskice, Metaphor and Religious Language, ibid., ibid., ibid., ibid.,

41 community. 75 For Soskice then, the longevity of a model derives not only from its applicability for a particular community time and time again but also because it has a history of application and thus the model is freighted with meaning : 76 to say that God is a fountain of living water, or a vine-keeper, or a rock, or fortress, or king requires an account not merely of fountains, rocks, vines, and kings but of a whole tradition of experiences and of the literary tradition which records and interprets them. 77 c) The Speaker, Hearer, Referencing, and Referent In a metaphorical utterance, a speaker speaks to a hearer from within the context of a community and makes reference to a referent only in this way. Using Keith Donellan s Reference and Definite Descriptions and John Lyons Semantics, Soskice defines reference as something that a speaker makes on a particular occasion of making an utterance, and not something made by individual vocabulary terms (lexemes) in isolation. The reference is successful in as much as the referring expression will correctly identify for the hearer the individual in question: the referent. 78 Though it is not the speaker from within a community who determines reference alone. Rather reference is determined by speakers in contexts of use, and not simply by individual speakers but by communities of speakers whose language provides access to the states and relations which are of interest to them ibid., ibid., ibid. 78 Lyons in ibid., ibid.,

42 d) Meaning and Reference Versus Sense & Denotation Another way of recognising the metaphor is contrasting meaning and reference derived from the metaphor with sense and denotation derived from the lexeme. Soskice explains meaning and reference: the meaning of the metaphor should not be thought of as the meaning of some words that in an utterance are used metaphorically or have peculiar metaphorical meanings, but rather as the meaning of the complete utterance as construed in its context of uttering. Similarly we argue that the reference which the metaphor makes is not, as some suggest, a split reference determined by the individual terms used in a metaphor (like man and wolf ); it is rather the reference effected by the speaker s employment of the whole utterance in its context. In some cases, the speaker may fix the reference by ostension or by some means independent of the terms of the utterance. 80 In terms of sense and denotation, sense is the dictionary definition of the lexeme and denotation is the relation between the lexeme and the persons, things, or states of affairs. 81 In determining meaning and reference, experience and community are essential. This does not mean that the speaker or hearer must personally experience that which they speak or hear of, but rather he or she relies on the collective experience of his or her community, particularly from those seen as having authority and having legitimate experiences expressed then in the languages of their communities. 82 Soskice actually refers to both the pointed experience of the individual and the diffuse experiences of the community as the pool from which reference may be grounded in. 83 What is important to remember here is that with such a lexical heritage including its applications from within a particular community over time, the community 80 ibid., ibid. 82 Cf. Soskice s referencing to Putnam s division of linguistic labour in ibid., 149. Also on sharing the pointed and diffuse experience of the Christian community in ibid., ibid.,

43 is thus bound not just by its descriptive vocabulary but also its shared assumptions, interest, and traditions of interpretation 84 In the final analysis, the real test of a living metaphor for a community is its necessity and explanatory function for the community. As Soskice says the commonality between the great poet and the great religious teacher is that both use metaphor to say that which can be said in no other way but which, once said, can be recognized by many. 85 e) Creating New Vision What distinguishes the metaphor from other tropes, figurative language, or figures of speech is, for Soskice, its added capacity to expand our lexicon, and in so doing, it expands the conceptual apparatus with which we work. 86 In comparison other tropes either: render a statement oblique (allegory); 87 are simply ornamental ways of naming (metonomy and synechdoche); 88 do not jolt the imagination (that is it initially seems inappropriate) but rather teach an old word new tricks of applying an old label in a new way (analogy); 89 and further, are non-linguistic (symbol, analogy, image). 90 Soskice describes the metaphor s ability to expand our lexicon: 84 ibid. 85 ibid., ibid., ibid., ibid., ibid., ibid., ibid., The purpose of [the] metaphor is both to cast up and organize a network of associations. A good metaphor may not simply be an oblique reference to a predetermined subject but a new vision, the birth of a new understanding, a new referential access. A strong metaphor compels new possibilities of vision

44 The metaphor not only expands a community s lexicon, but also becomes an interpretative lens, which consequently determines ways in which the community and its individuals relate and operate in relation to the subject in question, otherwise known as the referent. Soskice provides the example of viewing a political unit as a body politic versus as a ship of state : if the nation is a body and the monarch its head, if one cuts off the head the body will die, whereas on a ship of state mutiny against an incompetent captain is not only possible but obligatory. 92 The great significance or impact of the metaphor is thus explained: metaphor is not a neutral or ornamental aspect of speech. Rather, in almost all areas of abstract thought the very frames within which we work are given by metaphors which function in structuring not only what sort of answers we get, but what kind of questions we ask. 93 4) The Dead Metaphor The meaning of metaphor is further clarified when it is contrasted with what Soskice terms a dead metaphor. In order to understand this concept, metaphorical language must be distinguished from literal language, since dead metaphors fall under the literal language category. Soskice points out that metaphors are often contrasted with literal language. For her it is better to state that the opposite of literal language is non-literal language rather than metaphors. Non-literal language encompasses most tropes such as simile, metonomy, and metaphors for the most part (except dead metaphors) and also prose forms such as irony, satire and allegory. 94 Literal language in contrast, is language that a community has become accustomed to, and the category in which dead metaphors fall under. 92 ibid., ibid., ibid.,

45 Simply put, dead metaphors are ordinary and technical language that had origins as metaphorical language. 95 The three characteristics of the dead metaphor outlined as follows show how dead metaphors contrast with real or living metaphors: a) one recognizes a dissonance or tension in a living metaphor whereby the terms of the utterance used seem not strictly appropriate to the topic at hand: do winds really howl, do poplars sigh?...a hackneyed or dead metaphor generates no tension because we are accustomed to its juxtaposition of terms, although it may still be a non-standard juxtaposition. b) relative ease of paraphrase. The more dead a metaphor the more readily it lends itself to direct and full paraphrase; the heart of the matter is easily redescribed as the centre of the issue c) relationship of metaphor to model. An originally vital metaphor calls to mind, directly or indirectly, a model or models As the metaphor becomes commonplace, its initial web of implications becomes, if not entirely lost, then difficult to recall. 96 5) Definitive Definition Having investigated the characteristics of the metaphor, the dynamics of metaphorical use, and finally the characteristics of the dead metaphor, Soskice s definition of metaphor becomes clear: [M]etaphor is a form of language use with a unity of subject-matter and which yet draws upon two (or more) sets of associations, and does so, characteristically, by involving the consideration of a model or models. 97 In this thesis I will examine whether Soskice s definition of metaphor applies to the use of the Mother Church image in the early Patristic writers and Second Vatican Council. The three characteristics of metaphor will be applied to determine whether Mother Church is used as a live metaphor or whether it has become a technical term with a single basic referent, the hierarchical Church. I will argue that the dissonant, irreplaceable and 95 ibid., ibid., ibid.,

46 meaningful Mother Church metaphor developed by the early Patristic writers has by the time of Vatican II become clichéd, easily replaced (or even omitted in translation), and has lost the original network of associations that made it so rich and fruitful. The Mother Church as Metaphor This section now turns in a preliminary way to the concept of Mother Church and asks whether it may be a metaphor and if so how it would qualify as such. This is preliminary as the main examination of this will be in the investigation of how it was used by the Patristic writers and Vatican II which will need to examine the networks of associations embedded in the different contents in which it is employed. First, in considering the characteristics of the living metaphor, Mother Church qualifies in so far as it is seen as linguistic rather than a perception or an object; that it is found in a whole utterance rather than simply in an A is like B structure; that it is cognitive, increasing understanding and its implications do not need spelling out for its readers; that is understood not only from within a speaker s whole utterance but also in the understanding that the speaker speaks from a particular community. But, considering the dynamics of metaphorical use, the main question that arises is whether Church as mother is not really a metaphor but a model or an analogy or a metonymic rhetorical device and other tropes as mentioned above. In the texts explored within this thesis, from the writings of the early Patristic writers to the Vatican II documents, Mother Church is used as part of a linguistic utterance and is therefore not an object as is with models. To clarify further, a mother may be considered a model for the Church. More specifically, it is a non-homeomorphic or paramorphic 30

47 model since a mother can be a model for the Church but a mother is not modeled on the Church. In Mother Church, the mother is the model since it is used as basis for speaking metaphorically of the Church as maternal. In the early Patristic writers in particular, its use evoke[d] an emotional, moral, or spiritual response precisely because it had a cognitive or explanatory function. This model will have origins of usage in the Jewish and Christian scriptures, will be used and reused over time, and thus is freighted with meaning. In contrast, the origins of explicit use of the Church as mother metaphor was not in the Christian and Jewish scriptures, as will be shown later. As metaphor then, what is to be considered in this thesis concerning the Mother Church presents as a list: the whole utterance in which Mother Church is used and that meaning and reference is found in this way rather than in the lexemes mother or church ; the communities, their diffuse and pointed experiences, their history of usage of the metaphor as well as their assumptions about the metaphor; the speaker s ability to refer to Mother Church and the community s ability to recognize the speaker s referring without difficulty; that the metaphor opens up a network of associations, possibilities and envisioning; that speaking of the Church as a mother in fact makes the hearer forget about the mother (as reality) and primarily focus on the Church; and ultimately that the metaphor expands the lexicon of the community creating new possibilities of vision rather than rendering an oblique statement, nor is it replaceable in an ornamental sense, but instead jolts the imagination. Further, what needs to be questioned is how the metaphor of Mother Church creates a framework within which 31

48 Church communities and their members relate and operate, as well as how use of the metaphor expresses the concern/s of the speaker and his audience. This thesis proposes that Mother Church was developed as a live metaphor by early Patristic writers but that Vatican II s later appropriation of the metaphor is actually utilizing the title as an analogy or a dead metaphor. According to Soskice, an appellation s use acts simply as an analogy if from its inception it seems appropriate. We feel no jolt or strain. I ask if its use is an exercise in teaching an old word new tricks of applying an old label in a new way? 98 Does it actually expand the lexicon and/or vision of the Church and its nature? This is my primary question when considering the metaphor s use in the early Patristic writers and the Vatican II documents. Connected to this is the examination of whether Mother Church has become literal language having origins in metaphorical usage but over time has simply become the language in which a community has become accustomed. This can only be determined by questioning whether the metaphor creates a dissonance or tension in its use, the ease in which it may be paraphrased or not, and most significantly that the metaphor calls to mind, directly or indirectly the model of mother or if it is accustomed language its initial web of implications becomes, if not entirely lost, then difficult to recall. 99 Thesis Structure The thesis is divided into two sections: Part 1 is an exploration of the maternal ecclesial metaphor as it is developed by key early Patristic writers; Part 2 explores its use in Vatican II Council s sixteen documents. In 98 ibid., ibid.,

49 both sections both the explicit and implicit use of maternal ecclesial images (e.g. Mater Ecclesia, Mater, births and breastfeeds ) are explored from a Soskicean metaphorical perspective. Thus the full utterance of the speaker, his background and experience, his own context as well as the context of his audience are all taken into consideration in identifying and analysing the speaker s use of the maternal ecclesial metaphor. Part 1 begins with an exploration of the development of the image of Church as mother: from when it was first used by Irenaeus to refer to the Church community, through subsequent elaborations by Tertullian, Cyprian and Ambrose, up to the writings of Augustine in which Mother Church is personified as well being represented as the New Eve and modeled on Mary, the mother of Jesus. Irenaeus (Chapter I), who identifies the Christian community as acting as a mother, lays the foundations for the use of the maternal ecclesial metaphor. Tertullian (Chapter II), the first to explicitly use the phrase Mater Ecclesia, refers to Mother Church as a distinct entity that is paired with Father God and is thus necessary for salvation. I shall argue that Tertullian s image of Mother Church draws upon the associative network of the materfamilia of the Roman Empire. Cyprian (Chapter III), a disciple of Tertullian, makes that famous statement Habere iam non potest Deum patrem qui ecclesiam non habet matrem ( You cannot have God for your Father if you have not the Church for your mother ). 100 I assert that Cyprian, consciously or unconsciously, bases his understanding of motherhood on the Roman image of the matrona as propagated by the Emperor Augustine using his wife Livia as a model. Ambrose (Chapter IV) 100 De Unit 6 in Cyprian, "The Lapsed; The Unity of the Catholic Church," Ancient Christian Writers: The Works of the Fathers in Translation, (Westminster, Maryland/ London: The Newman Press/ Longmans, Green and Co, 1957), Full text of De Unit 6 in Latin in CCSL 3:

50 uses his allegorical reading of scripture to develop a range of female images that he associates with the Church: bride, virgin, sister, daughter, widow and queen. However, his central concern is to demonstrate how the Church can be both virgin and mother simultaneously. For Ambrose, establishing the fruitfulness of Virgin-Mother Church is important to support his arguments for celibacy and the spiritual motherhood of the ecclesial virgins. He thus introduces Mary as model of the Church as an example of how a virgin can give birth. Augustine (Chapter V) has the personified Mother Church speak for the first time as she pleads for the return of her schismatic children. He builds on the imagery of his predecessors, associating Mother Church with the sister, bride, virgin and queen of Song of Songs, but particularly emphasises her spousal role. It is argued that the web of associations that he uses includes not just scripture, but his own mother, Monica, as well as the culturally familiar Roman materfamilia and matrona. Augustine sees Mother Church as a New Eve and further develops Mary as a model for Mother Church. Having explored the beginnings and development of the use of the maternal ecclesial metaphor in these early Patristic writers, the second section of the thesis then explores its use within the sixteen documents of Vatican II Council (11 October 1962 to 8 December 1965). Chapter VI presents and briefly explores some principles to be considered when reading the texts of Vatican II. Some of these principles are the purposes, methodological approaches, and historical background leading to the Council and redrafting of its texts. Then in Chapters VII and VIII, the presences of the maternal metaphor within the documents are observed in detail. Finally, in Chapter IX, these presences of Mother Church as 34

51 metaphor are analysed using the Soskicean based criteria for live metaphors and using recent research from maternal theorists and feminist psychoanalysts alike, in the use and representation of the maternal in texts. A Note on Thesis Length, Scripture References and Gendered Language For completion, this thesis contains long passages of translations and original texts. This has resulted in an increased word count on the thesis. Scriptural passages within the thesis are from the New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Anglicized Text (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 2007).Patristic, Vatican II texts and their 20 th century male commentators quoted within this thesis often refer only to the male gender but in fact intend to refer to both male and female. For example, sons of God actually mean sons and daughters of God or more precisely, children of God, as translated from the Latin (filii Dei). As well, God is referred to as Him when in fact God can and has been represented in the masculine and feminine sense, as shown in Scripture. I hope that this is kept in mind and that the gender-biased language of the Early Patristic, Vatican II writers and commentators do not cause too much distraction from the main arguments of the thesis. 35

52 PART 1 - MOTHER CHURCH IN KEY EARLY PATRISTIC WRITERS CHAPTER I: IRENAEUS FIRST ALLUSIONS TO MOTHER CHURCH AS ECCLESIAL COMMUNITY The first clear appearance of the maternal ecclesial image is in late second century Patristic literature, in the writings of Irenaeus (c CE) 1 to the Church of Lyons. 2 There is no definitive answer pinpointing the exact origins of the appellation Mother Church. Peper posits that it began usage in Asia Minor and was taken up by the Lyons community, itself having roots in Asia Minor, though he can not say for certain the exact beginnings of the image s employment. 3 He observes that it seemed quite natural for the Lyons community to call their Church a mother since they used the appellation liberally without explanation or background. 4 Rankin argues that whilst Irenaeus refers to the Church community as a mother and Clement of Alexandria ( CE) often referred to the mother who comforted her children, who calls them to her and nurses them with the Word, Tertullian ( CE) was the first to use the term more conclusively as an entity separate from the sum of her membership. 5 Plumpe similarly initially claimed Tertullian s Ad Martyras (c.197 CE) as 1 Eric Francis Osborn, Irenaeus of Lyons (Cambridge/ New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001). 2 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia". 3 François Decret points to the beginnings of the North African Church with the Scillitan Martyrs who were pure Africans as opposed to their martyr brothers and sisters in Lyon, Gaul, who came from Asia and Phrygia. But he says there are no allusions to a Mother Church in The Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs. Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa, Smither, Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia". 5 Rankin, Tertullian and the Church,

53 the first evidence of the term being used frequently. 6 He later realises in a subsequent research that Mater was originally used to describe the Church in the East, and as a concept was then taken to the West. There the term would first appear in Lyons, seen in the letters of the confessors, Epistola Ecclesiarum Viennensis et Lugdunensis (EpVL) (Letters of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia) in Whilst according to all three authors Mater Ecclesia was first explicitly used by Tertullian, their research points to Irenaeus as a foundation to begin a study such as this. Background & Significance Irenaeus was most likely the Bishop of Vienne when Pothinus, Bishop of Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France) died in 177 CE. 8 As the two Gallican Churches were nearby, Irenaeus assumed the Bishopric of the two Churches. 9 It was that year in which the persecution of Christians in the Church of Lyons began. 10 Lugdunum was the capital of the Roman Province Gallia Lugdunensis. It was the centre, indeed the recapitulation 6 Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia. 7 ibid., Peper states that he was the Bishop of Lyons instead of Vienne. Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", 21. Evidence shows Gallican confessors wrote a letter to Eleutherus, Bishop of Rome, commending Irenaeus as presbyter of the Church at that time. Denis Minns says early Christian communities commonly interchanged the titles presbyter and bishop and suggests that Irenaeus may not have seen much difference between the two himself. He says Irenaeus never claimed the title of bishop for himself in his writings. Minns also says it is most probable he was more a bishop than presbyter as he is described in Eusebius. (Denis Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction (London/ New York: T & T Clark, 2010), 2. Robert Grant similarly claims Irenaeus saw the two roles as identical and suggests that he was a presbyter who may have seen himself as the local equivalent of bishops found elsewhere. Robert M. Grant, Irenaeus of Lyons, The Early Church Fathers (London/ New York: Routledge, 1997), 6. 9 Osborn, Irenaeus, Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction, 1-2; Osborn, Irenaeus, 2. 37

54 where all Gaul came together: All the thread of Roman public service. 11 Lyons and Vienne had close ties with Rome as well as Asia Minor. 12 The Christian communities were thriving, proud of their members that endured torments from the Roman Imperial State, even if some of their members had weakened. 13 The Church of Lyons was originally a Greek community with Greek speaking members but also included Romans. 14 The Church of Lyons contained members of all social ranks 15 and there was little distinction between the laity and clergy even though the Christians of Lyons were aware of their status compared to Rome and that the broader Church was undergoing changes that would lead to a more stratified, hierarchical organization. 16 Irenaeus could be seen as [t]he most important Christian controversialist and theologian between the apostles and the third century genius, Origen for his work in combining the traditions of predecessors from Asia Minor, Syria, and Rome to refute the Gnostics who were subverting the Gospel. 17 He was the first to fuse together the different 11 Osborn, Irenaeus, ibid., Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction, Osborn, Irenaeus, 2. Minns says both Churches of Lyons and Vienne were Greek speaking and derived from the Eastern part of the empire. Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction, Osborn, Irenaeus, Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction, Grant, Irenaeus, 1. Minns says some may claim that his greatness was in laying foundations for a developing Catholic tradition which stretches to the Vatican II Council documents. At the same time others have argued his interpretation of Scripture as a perversion and described unfavourably as an advocate of patriarchal forms of church government. Preface, p.x. in Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction. 38

55 strands of Christian thinking 18 and Tertullian and Augustine would later take up his themes and images including the image of Mater Ecclesia. 19 Irenaeus Rhetorical Method Irenaeus possibly pursued a career in rhetoric in Rome, before moving to Gaul. 20 His education in rhetoric, Greek philosophy and myth, helped him to recognize the methodologies of his Gnostic opponents, reveal their inconsistencies and falsity, and in so doing strategically inclined the ear of his Greco-Roman audience towards him: Then, again, collecting a set of expressions and names scattered here and there [in Scripture], they twist them, as we have already said, from a natural to a non-natural sense. In so doing, they act like those who bring forward any kind of hypothesis they fancy, and then endeavour to support them out of the poems of Homer, so that the ignorant imagine that Homer actually composed the verses bearing upon that hypothesis, which has, in fact, been but newly constructed; and many others are led so far by the regularly-formed sequence of the verses, as to doubt whether Homer may not have composed them. 21 Grant confirms this methodology belonging to Irenaeus in his writings of Adversus Haereses (AH) (Against Heresies) and Epideixis (Epid) (Proof or Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching) as: to know Gnostic 22 doctrine is to apprehend its falsity. According to Oliver O Donovan and Joan O Donovan, the audience for Irenaeus anti-gnostic writings were the Christian community rather than a defence of the faith to the pagans Osborn, Irenaeus, Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction, AH in Irenaeus, "The Writings of Irenaeus," in Ante-Nicene Christian Library, ed. Rev. Alexander Roberts and Rev. W. H. Rambaut (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1911), 40. Irenaeus Vol 1, ANCL Vol V. 22 Grant, Irenaeus, O Donovan and O Donovan say that AH was a work of a different literary genre from that of the apologists, and expects a different kind of readership, that is, a Christian one. Irenaeus of Lyons, in Oliver O'Donovan and Joan Lockwood O'Donovan, 39

56 Dennis Minns perspective would agree with O Donovan-O Donovan s, specifying Irenaeus particular audience as the contemporary Christians whose theological views separated them from the community of believers. Minns argues that Irenaeus own theology cannot be divorced from his polemical context. One could not fully understand what he meant at any point unless one knew what he was arguing against and usually it was false teaching. 24 Whilst in AH the audience was the Christian community and its aim was to convince Christians of Gnosticisms falsities, Epid s audience had no obvious target audience. Iain Mackenzie believed [t]he tone of the Demonstration is one of persuasion and the setting out positively of basic orthodox tenets. Dismissal of heresy is incidental, and for this reason no obvious target was chosen. 25 There has been an ongoing debate concerning the coherence of 26 Irenaeus writings. Some dismiss any coherence whilst others state that it somewhat exists. Osborn argues that Irenaeus is confusing because he has no concepts but rather only images, visions, impressions, and moods : as soon as one has captured his concept on a particular point, the concept can be overturned on another point. 27 Such a view could deter a study of Irenaeus use of the image of the Church as mother since one would not be able to create a coherent and conclusive picture. However, Osborn and From Irenaeus to Grotius: A Sourcebook in Christian Political Thought, (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1999), at Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction, xi. 25 Iain M. MacKenzie, J. Armitage Robinson, and Irenaeus, Irenaeus' Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching: A Theological Commentary and Translation (Aldershot, Hants, England Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2002), Cf. Osborn, Irenaeus, ibid.,

57 Minns maintain that Irenaeus does show coherence by following the general principle of order, fittingness, or what is most appropriate. 28 Whilst Osborn states that Irenaeus follows a general principle of order in his writings he lays out five centrifugal factors with which one can see the diffusion of Irenaeus thought. These factors are diversity of adversary, tradition, scripture, imagery, and aphorism. 29 First, the diversity of Gnosticism led Irenaeus to wander into different paths. 30 This is the most apparent reason why his writings seem unsystematic. Second, he did not wish to say anything new, as tradition was present in the scriptures already. Third, scripture is the definitive authority in terms of apostolic and prophetic tradition. Fourth, images are not ornamental but the source of ideas itself. Fifth, that he has the gift of striking utterance. His aphorisms are famous but their meaning is never obvious. 31 I would argue against Osborn on his fifth point that the meaning of Irenaeus aphorisms are not always obvious for in this employment of the maternal ecclesial image, the images of motherhood via the womb and breastfeeding images seem very clear as will be shown later. These factors assist in understanding Irenaeus use of the maternal ecclesial metaphor. They help to conclude that his use of the maternal image was not something newly contrived. It was an image derived from tradition as present in the scriptures. But there are no explicit images of the Church as mother in the Bible. Rather one finds passages such as Jesus describing himself as a mother hen brooding over her chicks (Mt 23:37, Lk 28 Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction, 10; Osborn, Irenaeus, Osborn, Irenaeus, ibid., ibid. 41

58 13:34) or Paul alluding to himself as a mother to members of the Church (1 Thess 2:7, Gal 4:19, 1 Cor 3:2) 32. Demonstration 94 shows Paul s contrasting between the two mothers of Galatians 4: Peper describes Irenaeus use of this Galatians passage: Irenaeus here identifies the church with Israel and focuses on the transition from barrenness to fruitfulness. This, however, is the only time he mentions the barrenness of the church prior to Christ; he always focuses on the church s maternity as it relates to nutrition and apostolic succession. 33 It will be shown later that the mother images taken from the Bible have their particular and deliberate roles. 34 Furthermore, the image of the mother is not merely an ornamental appellation placed onto the Church by Irenaeus. It is a multivalent image that enables other ideas or images to be developed. For example, if the Church is a mother, then a meaningful extension of this metaphor is the image of a mother breastfeeding a dependent infant. This can be used to symbolise the true Church that gives real nourishment/salvation through its orthodox teachings as opposed to the heresy promoted by schismatic movements. Thus whilst this image can be one of nurture, it can simultaneously be one of stinging critique of those who have led others astray with false teachings. Osborn further assists in making sense of Irenaeus by proposing a three-step method around the content, contour and conflict within his 32 Raymond F. Collins, The Power of Images in Paul (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2008), 85. Collins does state that Paul never explicitly says the word mother (me te r). 33 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Peper conjectures that Irenaeus may have turned to 2 Maccabees 7:20ff, 1 Corinthians 15:8, and John 3:1-10 for his reference to mother Church in the EpVL. But Peper also points out that Irenaeus does not make any explicit references to these passages for the portrayal of Mother Church. ibid.,

59 writings. First, one should investigate the actual content. Second, one must understand that the content should present a unified argument under Irenaeus view of the rule of faith and in the sequence of his own ideas. 35 For Irenaeus, the rule of faith is unity in matters of faith which holds together a diversity of traditional local practice and that his central idea is recapitulation in Christ. 36 Osborn used the image of an hourglass turned horizontally to show the flow of Irenaeus ideas: its fulcrum was Christ, the place of recapitualtion. One side of the hourglass was the message of the old prophets and the other the message of the new prophets, Jesus and the apostles. There is only continuity rather than a separation of message. Osborn also says that Irenaeus sees Christ, the apostles and prophets as replacing the platonic forms that was the common philosophic thought of his day. 37 Third, since various authors conflict in the interpretation means one must allow for the interpretation of opposite directions. 38 Irenaeus rhetorical method can also be seen as the borrowing of tools from his studies and applying them to his writings: through the detection and refutation of false teachings, the replacement of the hypothesis of false gnostic teaching with Christian teaching, the presentation of oikonomia in Jesus, and related to this last one, the presentation of the anakepalaiôsis, the summary or recapitulation of a narrative. 39 His general rhetorical approach in refutation of gnosticisms could be described as: 35 Osborn, Irenaeus, ibid., ibid., ibid., Grant, Irenaeus, at

60 an unwavering conviction of the goodness of God and the goodness of the world he has made, in which and through which he acts in revelation and redemption. The whole history of humankind, from Adam and Eve on, is a single coherent story that finds its focal point in Christ and that will find its culmination when he comes again. 40 A more direct and succinct description comes from Sara Parvis: For Irenaeus, Humanity is one, God is one, Christ is one, the church is one, salvation is one. 41 Irenaeus used certain criteria for determining the orthodoxy of the Church: (1) the canon veritatis ( canon of truth ) and (2) the regula fidei ( rule of faith ). Both concepts lacked in gnostic faiths. 42 The regula fidei was dependent upon the message of Scripture, the baptismal faith, and the confession of faith in fellowship with the church of Rome. 43 Mary Ann Donovan states that the relationship between Scripture and the regula fidei was so closely tied that the rule was the very interpretive principle for the reading of scriptures for Irenaeus. 44 For Paul Parvis, the rule was a sort of summary or condensation of what is taught in Scripture. 45 For Peper, the distinguishing marks of Irenaeus Church were its unity and martyrdom: 40 Paul Parvis, "Who Was Irenaeus: An Introduction ot the Man and His Work," in Irenaeus: Life, Scripture, Legacy ed. Sara Parvis and Paul Foster(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011), Sara Parvis, "Irenaeus, Women, and Tradition," in Irenaeus: Life, Scripture, Legacy, ed. Sara Parvis and Paul Foster(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), Hubertus R. Drobner, The Fathers of the Church: A Comprehensive Introduction trans., Siegfried S. Schatzmann (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrikson, 2007), 120. Some authors state that the criterion for Irenaeus was the Rule of Truth otherwise known as the Rule of Faith. This is probably because canon in Greek is κανων and in Latin is regula. Parvis, "Who Was Irenaeus," 20; Mary Ann Donovan, One Right Reading?: A Guide to Irenaeus (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1997), 11; Grant, Irenaeus, 10; Osborn, Irenaeus, Drobner, The Fathers of the Church, Schatzmann, Donovan, One Right Reading?, Parvis, "Who Was Irenaeus,"

61 they guaranteed the Church s possession of the Holy Spirit and its orthodoxy. 46 This thesis now investigates the different images of mother Church presented by Irenaeus, keeping in mind the understanding then that Irenaeus utilisation of any image is grounded in tradition, the regula fidei, scripture, the unity of ecclesiology and Christian story, recapitulation in Christ, but also in the idea of order or appropriateness and that he borrowed tools from rhetoric and had the particular Christian Lyons community which had roots in Asia as his audience. Mother Church Texts and Contexts Irenaeus maternal ecclesial metaphor is found in The Letter of the Churches from Vienne and Lyons to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia (EpVL c.177 CE). As leader of these communities, it is most likely that Irenaeus was the author of this Letter. 47 The maternal metaphor is also found in two of his works Proof (or Demonstration) of the Apostolic Preaching (Epid, c.178 CE) and Against Heresies: Refutation and Overthrow of Knowledge falsely-so-called (AH, c.180 CE). In all texts, the appellation Mater Ecclesia is never explicitly used but only made reference to by a maternal concept or associative word. Such terms were children ( filiis in Epid 94 or παίδων in HE ), breasts ( mamillis Matris in AH ) and their educative role ( et in ejus sinu 46 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Peper suggests that Irenaeus influenced the writers of EpVL or had written the letter himself. Ibid., Minns references Eusebius in stating that Irenaeus was considered the bearer of the Letter, and the presbyter of the Church, and that he wrote on behalf of the brothers in Gaul, of whom he was leader. In Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction, 2. Constance De Young Groh states that Irenaeus had very much similar views to the author of EpVL. In Constance DeYoung Groh, Agents of Victory: Mary and the Martyrs in the Writings of Irenaeus of Lyons (Northwestern University, 2000), 250. He also shows some slight differences. In ibid.,

62 educari in AH ), and even mother herself ( μήτηρ in HE or μητρικὰ in HE ). In Epid, a document aimed at catechumens in preparation for baptism, the image of Mother Church occurs only twice, at 94 and 98. Peper says that for Irenaeus, the maternal ecclesial image is only figuratively conveyed as one who nurtures and guarantees the salvation of her children. 48 Who is the Mother? a) The Community as the Intercessor, Martyr, and Virgin EpVL describes in part the horrific persecutions experienced by confessors in the Christian community of Lyons. 49 The persecutions began with the ban of Christians from participation in public activities, which turned into a ban from public places. Christians were accused of atheism because of their refusal to honor the local gods. 50 The persecutions were initially enforced by local mobs and became heightened in martyrdom at the public amphiteatre. 51 Christine Trevett explains the general significance of martyrdom for early Christians: 48 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", HE 5.1.4, in The Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, 177, in J. Stevenson revised by W.H.C. Frend, A New Eusebius: Documents illustrating the History of the Church to AD 337, 2nd ed. (London: SPCK, 1987; reprint, 11), at Peper outlines the context of this persecution saying that it may have been stimulated both by their recent arrival to Lyon (highlighting attention to themselves and creating suspicion as foreigners) and their refusal to participate in the worship of local gods. Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Hubertus R. Drobner describes the progress of the persecution as outlined in the Letter from a general prohibition for the Christian community to assemble (1.4-5) Then follows the badgering by the tumultuous mob, the interrogation by the magistrate in the forum, the martyr s confession, and their being threatened with instruments of torture (1.7-10). The accused are then imprisoned and await the arrival of the governor to commence the trial. The accusation refers to atheism and failure to venerate the gods. Some thereupon fall away, and some pagan slaves of Christian masters even bear false witness to the popular suspicions against Christians, namely Oedipal marriages and Thyestean feasts. ( ). In Drobner, The Fathers of the Church, Schatzmann, Drobner, The Fathers of the Church, Schatzmann,

63 Martyrdom was a second baptism. Like the first it effaced sin Satan was defeated in martyrdom In Christian ranks martyrs were honoured. Traditions of the apostolic age and beyond described them in heaven already, rather than awaiting a general resurrection. Martyrs would judge and the reviled would be vindicated Martyrdom brought the keys to paradise itself and readiness for it brought spiritual gifts and privileges. 52 Martyrdom had been part of the Christian culture of the Gallic communities but also the heretical Montanist movement (also called the New Prophecy ) that had gained popularity since its origins in Phrygia. 53 The New Prophecy encouraged martyrdoms 54 but the Catholic Christians were keen to distinguish themselves from the Phrygian so-called martyrs not because of the fanatical desire for death which is often to be assumed to be central to the Prophecy, but because of the spirit in Montanus and the women. 55 During one episode, an interruption occurred due to the discovery that among the confessors, a person named Attalus was found to be a Roman citizen. Attalus was returned to prison by command of the emperor 52 Christine Trevett, Montanism: Gender, Authority, and the New Prophecy (Cambridge/ New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996), Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, Oracle of an Unidentified Prophet or Prophetess: Wish not to choose to die in your beds, nor in miscarriages and mild fevers, but in martyrdoms, that he who has suffered for you may be glorified in Tertullian, Concerning Flight 9.4, in Ronald E. Heine, The Montanist Oracles and Testamonia ed. North American Patristic Society, Patristic Monograph Series (Macon: Mercer, 1989), Trevett, Montanism, 123. Cf. HE in Eusebius, "Eusebius: The Ecclesiastical History," Loeb Classical Library, (Cambridge, Massachusetts/ London, England: Harvard University Press, 1926). English trans. p.483. Greek trans. p.482. Trans. K. Lake. Montanus visions seemed to claim incarnation of the Christian God through Montanus: I am the Lord God, the Almighty dwelling in man. In Epiphanius, Panarion in Heine, The Montanist Oracles and Testamonia, 3. As well the conduct with which both male and female prophets received their visions was seen questionable they received them in an ecstatic manner and in hindsight was probably the practice of glossolalia. Trevett explains the movement: The New Prophecy believed in the outpouring of the Spirit and the appearance of a new, authoritative prophecy which brought fresh disciplinary demands to the churches. Women were prominent as leaders and the Prophets clashed with catholic representatives on matters such as the nature of prophecy, the exercise of authority, the interpretation of Christian writings and the significance of the phenomenon for salvation history. Trevett, Montanism, 3. 47

64 and given the chance to recant his Christianity and return to Roman pagan worship. Meanwhile, the experience of other confessors was described: But the intervening time was not idle or fruitless for them but through their endurance was manifested the immeasurable mercy of Christ, for through the living the dead were being quickened and martyrs gave grace to those who had denied. And there was great joy to the Virgin Mother [παρθένῳ μητρί] who had miscarried with them as though dead, and was receiving them back alive. For through them the majority of those who had denied were again brought to birth 56 and again conceived and quickened again, and learned to confess, and now alive and vigorous, made happy by God who wills not the death of the sinner, but is kind towards repentance 57 The intercessorial and maternal acts of the confessors turned martyrs are even made clearer in the following passage: after other details they say: For their greatest contest, through the genuineness of their love, was this, that the beast 58 should be choked into throwing up alive those whom he had at first thought to have swallowed down. For they did not boast over the fallen, but from their own abundance supplied with a mother s love [μητρικὰ σπλάγχνα] 59 those that needed, and shedding many tears for them to the Father, they prayed for life, and he gave it to them, and they divided it among their neighbours, and then departed to God with peace they departed to God; for their mother [μητρὶ] they left behind no sorrow 56 Kirsopp Lake states that the original Greek equivalent ἀνεμετροûντο is meaningless and instead uses Schwartz s ἀνεμαιοûντο which he translates as brought to birth but does not see this as a great translation. Drobner, The Fathers of the Church, Schatzmann, footnote 1, p HE , in Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History (Loeb)", Lake. English trans p.429. Greek trans p.428. Trans. K. Lake. Greek: O δὲ διὰ μέσου καιρὸς οὐκ ἀργὸς αὐτοῖς οὐδὲ ἄκαρπος ἐγίνετο, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς ὑπομονῆς αὐτῶν τὸ ἀμέτρητον ἔλεος ἀνεφαίνετο Χριστοῦ διὰ γὰρ τῶν ζώντων ἐζωοποιοῦντο τὰ νεκρά, καὶ μάρτυρες τοῖς μὴ μάρτυσιν ἐχαρίζοντο, καὶ ἐνεγίνετο πολλὴ χαρὰ τῇ παρθένῳ μητρί, οὓς ὡς νεκροὺς ἐξέτρωσε, τούτους ζῶντας ἀπολαμβανούσῃ. δι ἐκείνων γὰρ οἱ πλείους τῶν ἠρνημένων ἀνεμετροῦντο καὶ ἀνεκυΐσκοντο καὶ ἀνεζωπυροῦντο καὶ ἐμάνθανον ὁμολογεῖν καὶ ζῶντες ἤδη καὶ τετονωμένοι προσῄεσαν τῷ βήματι, ἐγγλυκαίνοντος τοῦ τὸν μὲν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ μὴ βουλομένου, 58 The beast was interpreted as the Devil and those whom he swallowed were the recanters of the faith. The confessors hoped their martyrdom would rescue them from the Devil. In ibid., footnote 1, p A mother s love seems a weak translation for μητρικὰ σπλάγχνα since σπλάγχνα can translate to from the very bowels, a deep pity, compassion, the very seat of one s feelings. The Mother here is not just simply loving, she is beside herself with emotion. 48

65 [πόνον], 60 and for the brethren no strife and war, but glory, peace, concord and love. 61 In both passages, one sees that the maternal role is unlike the role of human motherhood. Christians are spiritually birthed but do not begin the normal human process of separation from the mother creating a separate identity for themselves. The above experience of the martyrs presents the children of the Church as constituting by their own community their own mother; the feelings and actions of both martyrs and recanters alike are directly expressed as the feelings and acts of what will later be termed Mother Church. Peper observes that for Irenaeus communities calling the Church a Mother was a given. 62 This Mother was clearly the community there were no distinctions between them. 63 After being birthed, her children have but two choices before them: death (by recanting their faith described here as the Mother s abortions ) or life (continuing to live the new life from their spiritual birth or being reconceived within the Mother s womb, described here as her quickening, through the martyrdom of others in the community). Interestingly, at this stage of imaging the Church as Mother through the martyrs, the Mother is also called a virgin. For Irenaeus, the term 60 Or pain. 61 H.E , in Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History (Loeb)", Lake. English trans p.441. Greek trans. p.440. by K. Lake. Greek: καὶ αὖθίς φασι μεθ ἕτερα οὗτος γὰρ καὶ μέγιστος αὐτοῖς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πόλεμος ἐγένετο διὰ τὸ γνήσιον τῆς ἀγάπης, ἵνα ἀποπνιχθεὶς ὁ θὴρ οὓς πρότερον ᾤετο καταπεπωκέναι, ζῶντας ἐξεμέσῃ. οὐ γὰρ ἔλαβον καύχημα κατὰ τῶν πεπτωκότων, ἀλλ ἐν οἷς ἐπλεόναζον αὐτοί, τοῦτο τοῖς ἐνδεεστέροις ἐπήρκουν μητρικὰ σπλάγχνα ἔχοντες, καὶ πολλὰ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐκχέοντες δάκρυα πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ζωὴν ᾐτήσαντο, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἣν καὶ συνεμερίσαντο τοῖς πλησίον, κατὰ πάντα νικηφόροι πρὸς θεὸν ἀπελθόντες. εἰρήνην ἀγαπήσαντες ἀεὶ καὶ εἰρήνην ἡμῖν παρεγγυήσαντες, μετ εἰρήνης ἐχώρησαν πρὸς θεόν, μὴ καταλιπόντες πόνον τῇ μητρὶ μηδὲ στάσιν καὶ πόλεμον τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἀλλὰ χαρὰν καὶ εἰρήνην καὶ ὁμόνοιαν καὶ ἀγάπην. 62 Plumpe similarly comments as Peper that mother was a familiar title to the Christians of Lyons and Vienne Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia",

66 virgin has been applied to Mary, the earth, and the Church. Towards Mary, virgin meant that Mary had no sexual relations with a human father in conceiving Jesus. Her virginity thus guaranteed Jesus divine paternity. 64 Mary, as woman, also represented what was considered at the time the (feminine) flesh. Constance De Young Groh even goes so far as to state that for Irenaeus, Mary was purely human. 65 Her Yes to the Father (the divine represented in the masculine) was seen as the (feminine) flesh responding to the promptings of the (masculine) spirit. 66 Mary s body in turn became analogical for Irenaeus to the virgin soil from which Adam was formed. 67 As the virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, so did Irenaeus see the virgin earth as giving birth to Adam, thus appearing as a type of the one to come. 68 In terms of the earth which formed Adam, virgin then meant the fresh untouched soil when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb in the field had yet sprung up. 69 It can be seen then that Irenaeus applied the fleshly experience of the martyrs, onto the Church, so that it can be called a Virgin Mother. The purity of the fleshly sufferings of the martyrs would intercede for the aborted Christians (those who denied their faith) and thus enabled their spiritual rebirth. The Christian slave Blandina was particularly portrayed as the suffering and yet triumphant maternal martyr-intercessor, But the blessed Blandina, last of all, like a noble mother (μήτηρ εὐγενὴς) who had encouraged her children and sent them forth triumphant to the king, having herself endured all the tortures of the children, 64 DeYoung Groh, "Agents of Victory", ibid., ibid., ibid. Cf. AH ibid., ibid. 50

67 hastened to them, rejoicing and glad at her departure as though invited to a marriage feast rather than cast to the beasts. 70 Trevett says the Lyons and Vienne document present in the crucified female (Blandina) and male martyrs the Church as Virgin Mother who bore the crucified Christ to the world. 71 This account parallels the experience of the mother of 2 Maccabees 7:20-23: The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Although she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord. She encouraged each of them in the language of their ancestors. Filled with a noble spirit, she reinforced her woman s reasoning with a man s courage, and said to them, I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of humankind and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws. Pepper also connects this maternal martyrdom experience of Blandina with the Virgin Mother Church and claims that 2 Maccabees thus acts as a scriptural precedent for Irenaeus maternal ecclesial imagary: Given the fact that maternal imagery is applied to both the church and martyrs, this would suggest that the martyrs were equated with the church itself and its motherhood, and that 2 Maccabees functioned as the scriptural precedent for understanding the church as a mother; this connection becomes more explicit in later patristic writers, such as Cyprian. This is also an instance where the maternal qualities of the church are coordinated with the maternal activities of its members suggesting there was originally little distinction understood between the community itself as a mother and 70 HE in Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History (Loeb)", Lake. English trans. p.433. Greek trans. p Trans. K. Lake. Greek: ἡ δὲ μακαρία Βλανδῖνα πάντων ἐσχάτη, καθάπερ μήτηρ εὐγενὴς παρορμήσασα τὰ τέκνα καὶ νικηφόρους προπέμψασα πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, ἀναμετρουμένη καὶ αὐτὴ πάντα τὰ τῶν παίδων ἀγωνίσματα ἔσπευδεν πρὸς αὐτούς, χαίρουσα καὶ ἀγαλλιωμένη ἐπὶ τῇ ἐξόδῳ, ὡς εἰς νυμφικὸν δεῖπνον κεκλημένη, ἀλλὰ μὴ πρὸς θηρία βεβλημένη. 71 Trevett, Montanism,

68 the motherly activities of individual members within that community. 72 As the Mother image of the Church was incorporated into Irenaeus writings, so the Christian Church s tradition of martyrdom is integrated with it. It seemed natural to add onto her abilities this image of the martyr seeing as it was part of the origins and culture of the Gallic people of Lyons. Mother Church, in the acts of her martyrs, gains powers of intercession and the expression of the crucified Christ to the world. b) A Virginal Bride Whilst Plumpe observed the familiarity with which the Lyons and Vienne communities named the Church a Mother 73, he points to what he considers a greater observation that the Church is a Bride especially in light of the Montanist controversy that had arisen in the Gallic communities home origin of Phrygia. 74 Plumpe says they were seriously involved in the controversy and were extremely conscious of the Churchheresy antithesis, of contamination imperilling the spotless Bride of Christ. 75 He does not further explain the connection between the Montanist Controversy and the specific employ of Bride for the Church Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, ibid., ibid., 40. Cf. HE in Heine, The Montanist Oracles and Testamonia, 13. Here Eusebius speaks of the Gallic Christians writing letters to communities in Asia, Phrygia, and Rome, desiring peace from the disputes occurring among the prophets/leaders of Montanism (Montanus, Alcibiades, Theodotus). 76 It is possible that the Church is named a Bride because one vision (Quintillian s) suggests that in Montanist circles Christ might be experienced and described in female form. Trevett, Montanism, 193. As an ecclesial bride, Jesus maleness could be kept intact. But Trevett has misgivings on interpretations of Montanism as heavily female and Christ as female as being central to the new movement. (ibid., 38.) In Plumpe s statement it seems the Church was called a bride simply to express its inviolable relationship with the Christian God as opposed to imitators such as the New Prophecy and other Gnostics. As a contrast, Karl Shuve provides a convincing perspective on the utilisation of nuptial imagery for the Church which is shown in the next paragraph. 52

69 Karl Shuve comments that Irenaeus was reluctant to use the bridal imagery for the Church simply because his gnostic opponents also utilised it. Shuve provides a sample of one such gnostic teaching: According to the Valentinians when Achamoth ends her exile in the intermediate realm, she espouses the Saviour and transforms the Pleroma into a nuptial chamber [nymphonem], into which the spiritual seed [spiritales], who have taken off their souls [exspoliatos animas] and become intelligent spirits [spiritus intellectuals], may now enter. 77 Shuve explains that the nuptial image was used by the Valentinians to project a future where the material realm disappeared and the soul is incorporated into the cosmos. More problematic for Irenaeus was their utilisation of Paul to justify their teaching. Shuve says Irenaeus does not attempt to contrast his nuptial theology with theirs but does present a positive valuation of the created world and to demonstrate the continuity between the gospel of Christ and the revelation of the Creator. 78 For example in A.H Irenaeus used the bridal image to counter the idea of creation as not saved by God as could be interpreted by the Pauline phrase flesh and blood are not able to inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). Shuve interprets the use of the imagery as secondary only to the main purpose of presenting a positive anthropology and soteriology. Further he points to other appearances of the imagery in A.H where Irenaeus references Hosea s marriage to a prostitute and Moses marriage to an Ethiopian woman. In both instances, the men serve as types of Christ and the women, outsiders of ill-repute, signify the Gentiles. 79 On Hosea s 77 Karl Shuve, "Irenaeus' Contribution to Early Christian Interpretation of the Song of Songs," in Irenaeus: Life, Scripture and Legacy ed. Sara Parvis and Paul Foster(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), ibid. 79 ibid.,

70 marriage, Irenaeus plays on the word κοινωνία [communicatio] in describing the relationship between Hosea and the prostitute. κοινωνία has the general meaning of union, fellowship, or association, but it can carry both the more specific meanings of marriage to someone and, in Christian writing from the New Testament, of the believer s participation in Christ, which Irenaeus here juxtaposes. 80 For Irenaeus, the underlying dynamic is that the faithless wife [ infidelem mulierem ] is sanctified by her faithful husband [ viro fideli ] (A.H ), 81 in turn sanctifying the women through the faith of their husbands. Shuve claims a similar dynamic between Moses and the Ethiopian woman. From these examples, Shuve concludes that human marriage is utilised as a profound symbol of redemption and communion with the divine. 82 Similarly, Irenaeus points to the marriage of Moses to the Ethiopian as a prefigurement of the Word s marriage to the Church as Bride: It was in Egypt, which like Ethiopia had always been Gentile, that the persecuted Christ found safety, and there made holy the children from whom he formed his Church. 83 As faithlessness of the community is symbolised through the outsider and the contaminated (the Ethiopian and prostitute), its opposite symbols would represent sanctification and salvation (the Spotless Bride of Christ that is virginity and spousehood combined with the Motherhood of the Church). Already at this early stage where the Church as community is imaged as a Mother, she is already explicitly called Virgin and alluded to as a Bride by Irenaeus (in the collective experience of the confessors of H.E. 80 ibid. 81 ibid., ibid. 83 Denis Minns, Irenaeus (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1994),

71 but also the individual experience of Blandina in H.E where her martyrdom is described as an act of motherhood anticipating attendance at a bridal feast). But such titles or images are not simply generically applied to the Church as Shuve explains, they had the power to represent redemption and communion of the community with the divine. c) It Breastfeeds It Teaches The main concerns for the Lyons and Vienne Churches were the threat of persecution, torture, and death by the governing Roman Empire as well as the threat of gnostic teachings, which closely imitated Christianity such that they created great confusion for the communities. The threat of Gnostic or unorthodox teachings is evidenced in AH where they competed for the attention of Christians. 84 Whilst placed under the umbrella of Gnosticism, they varied in their teachings, resembled Christianity in their use of proof texts (from OT and NT) and interpreted them for their own purposes. 85 Gnosticisms also mimicked Christian rituals 86 and images. 87 Minns states for Irenaeus, all of the heresies he confronted were newly minted religions, and to a sophisticated observer, quite simply ridiculous. 88 Thus, there was no reason why they should have bothered him anymore than any of the other, older options available in the Roman 84 Irenaeus sets out the doctrines of the following competing Gnostic cults and philosophies in AH: Valentinus (AH 1.1), Marcus (AH 1.16), Simon Magus and Menander (AH 1.23), Saturninus and Basilides (AH 1.24), Carpocrates (AH 1.25) Cerinthus, the Ebionites, and Nicolaitanes (AH 1.26), Cerdo and Marcion (AH 1.27), Tatian, the Encratites, and others (AH 1.28), other Gnostic sects especially the Barbeliotes or Borborians (AH 1.29), Ophites and Sethians (AH 1.30), Cainites (AH 1.31). In Irenaeus, "The Writings of Irenaeus (ANCL)." Irenaeus Vol 1, ANCL Vol V. 85 Cf. AH Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", For a concise summary on Gnosticism, see Drobner, The Fathers of the Church, Schatzmann, Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction,

72 world s oversupplied marketplace of religions and philosophies. 89 Irenaeus though was concerned by the newly minted religions because they claimed to be the authentic form of religion to which he himself adhered. Their falsity needed to be exposed and overthrown. 90 Robert Grant would explain that what appealed to Gnostic converts was the theological synthesis of diverse scriptural passages, along with a secret pattern to hold them together. 91 Added to this, the diversity of opinion was part of the Christian tradition from its very beginnings. 92 Irenaeus himself was influenced by a diverse number of Patristic writers from the Roman west (Clement, Hermas and Justin) to the Asian east (John, Polycarp and Papias). 93 Though seen by Irenaeus as all being consistent with his ecclesial thinking, their opinions on a number of topics were diverse. Hubertus Drobner explains that the Church responded to the threat from gnosticisms by expelling from the Christian community any believers of this doctrine and developing a true Christian gnosis, integrating rational and philosophical progression of knowledge of faith into the 94 biblical and traditional theology of the Church. AH presents mother Church as that one true giver of orthodox Christian teaching leading to the real salvation: For where the church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the church, and every 89 ibid. 90 ibid., Grant, Irenaeus, It was only because of the crisis brought on by the Gnostics in the second century that the Church was forced to form an orthodox consensus, create a majority view, and present itself as an articulated system Minns, Irenaeus: An Introduction, Grant, Irenaeus, Drobner, The Fathers of the Church, Schatzmann,

73 kind of grace; but the Spirit is truth. Those, therefore, who do not partake of Him, are neither nourished into life from the mother's breasts [neque a mammillis matris nutriuntur in vitam], nor do they enjoy that most limpid fountain which issues from the body of Christ; but they dig for themselves broken cisterns out of earthly trenches, and drink putrid water out of the mire, fleeing from the faith of the Church lest they be convicted; and rejecting the Spirit, that they may not be instructed. 95 Similarly AH contrasts the food of the Church s bosom from the injurious doctrines of others eaten with an uplifted mind and are suspected of heretical discord : It behoves us, therefore, to avoid their doctrines, and to take careful heed lest we suffer any injury from them; but to flee to the Church, and be brought up in her bosom [et in ejus sinu educari], and be nourished with the Lord's Scriptures. 96 Both examples show the maternity of the Church in the image of the mother as feeding bosom that which provided the life-giving and even lifesaving nutrition especially towards the infant who either fed only from this source from the mother or from a wet nurse (if the family could afford such a luxury). The necessary food of life, a mother s milk, is paralleled with the necessary food of the spiritual life, the orthodox truth handed down from the apostles. Such a maternal analogy would certainly have made sense to the Lyons community because of its universal understanding. But also it was understood in ancient Greek culture that a mother s character was passed onto the child through her milk. 97 As the ancient Greek mother passed on elements of herself her knowledge, demeanour, good character 95 AH , in Irenaeus, "The Writings of Irenaeus (ANCL)," 369. Irenaeus Vol 1, ANCL Vol V. No Greek translation in PG. Latin from PG 7: ibid., 109. Irenaeus Vol 2, ANCL Vol IX. Latin: Fugere igitur oportet sententias ipsorum, et intentius observare, necubi vexemur ab ipsis; confugere autem ad Ecclesiam, et in ejus sinu educari, et Dominicis Scripturis enutriri No Greek translation in PG. Latin from PG 7: Robert Garland, "Mother and Child in the Greek World," History Today 36, (1986):

74 through her milk, so would the mother Church, herself the holder of orthodox truth, her high-born status would be passed onto the faithful. It is possible too that the Lyons community, as a Roman city, would have been exposed to the mythological image of Romulus (founder of the city of Rome) 98 and his twin Remus, being suckled by a she-wolf: abandoned by their mother Rhea, the twins were saved by this she-wolf and were consequently brought up by a shepherd (Faustulus). The image of the twins suckling on the breasts of the she-wolf was used as the very symbol of the growing power of Rome. This image was also often portrayed alongside Aeneas who embodied the central virtues of Rome, 99 most especially the virtue of pietas. 100 The wide dissemination of the image showed its importance for the Roman Empire and it communicated that the very foundations of the Empire was portrayed through the picture of a mother suckling two infants. In a similar fashion to the she-wolf, Irenaeus Mother Church saved her children through the act of breastfeeding. For Irenaeus: Peper provides the scriptural basis for this nutritive ecclesial image. [t]he church is a location of nourishment in the divine economy of salvation. Unlike the forbidden fruit eaten by Adam and Eve, the church for Irenaeus provides an individual with true knowledge through its teaching; it is the necessary lifesource for salvation It is said that Romulus was the first king of Rome. He founded the city in April 21, 753BC when he built it on the Palatine Hill known as Roma Quadrata. Cf. Rome s.v. "The New Century classical handbook." 99 Roy G. Willis, World Mythology: the Illustrated Guide (Surry Hill, N.S.W.: RD Press, 1993), This virtue and the other ancient Roman virtues are discussed in the next two chapters in the investigation of Tertullian and Cyprian s Mother Church. 101 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia",

75 Whilst Osborn would argue that Irenaeus does not invent any new images, rather he takes them from tradition via scripture, 102 he also says that the application of the image of mother to Church would not have been ornamental but deliberate. 103 Also he says that for Irenaeus, the rule of faith is unity in matters of faith, which holds together a diversity of traditional local practice. 104 From this we can say that Irenaeus takes his ideas of the Church as mother from scripture. But also it can be said that he takes up the image in response to the Gnostic use of Mother Church, an image on which the very foundations of their Gnostic arguments are built upon: For they explain the wandering sheep to mean their mother [matrem suam referunt dici], by whom they represent the church as having been sown [volunt esse seminatam Ecclesiam]. 105 The father and son thus both had intercourse with the woman (whom they also call the mother of the living). When, however, she could not bear nor receive into herself the greatness of the lights, they declare that she was filled to repletion, and became ebullient on the left side; and that thus their only son Christ, as belonging to the right side, and ever tending to what was higher, was immediately caught up with his mother to form an incorruptible Aeon. This constitutes the true and holy Church, which has become the appellation, the meeting together, and the union of the father of all, of the first man, of the son, of the second man, of Christ their son, and of the woman who has been mentioned For Osborn scripture is the definitive authority in terms of apostolic and prophetic tradition. Osborn, Irenaeus, ibid., ibid., AH 1.8.4, in Irenaeus, "The Writings of Irenaeus (ANCL)," 35. Irenaeus Vol 1, ANCL Vol V. Trans. Roberts & Rambaut. Latin translation in PG 7:530 and in Greek, PG 7: AH in ibid., 104. Irenaeus Vol 1, ANC, Vol 5. Trans. Roberts & Rambaut. Latin: Concumbentibus autem patre et filio feminae quam et matrem vivntium dicunt, cum [autem] non potuisset portare, nec capere magnitudinem luminum, superrepletam et superebullientem secundum sinisteriores partes dicunt: et sic quidem filium eorum solum Christum, quasi dextrum, et in superior allevatitium, arreptum statim cum matre in incorruptibilem AEonem. Esse autem hanc et veram, et sanctam Ecclesiam, quae fuerit appellation, et convention, et adunatio Patris omnium primi hominis, et Filii secondi hominis, et Christi filii eorum, et praedictae faminae. No Greek translation in PG. Latin from PG 7:

76 Peper presents this possible deliberate application by Irenaeus: It is highly probable that Irenaeus has the church as mother in mind when he suggests that Gnostics should separate from their mother in order to be begotten in the church of God 107 as seen in AH : We do indeed pray that these men may not remain in the pit which they themselves have dug, but separate themselves from a Mother of this nature [sed segregari ab hujusmodi Matre] 108, and depart from Bythus, and stand away from the void, and relinquish the shadow; and that they, being converted to the Church of God, may be lawfully begotten, and that Christ may be formed in them, and that they may know the Framer and Maker of this universe, the only true God and Lord of all. We pray for these things on their behalf, loving them better than they seem to love themselves. For our love, inasmuch as it is true, is salutary to them, if they will but receive it. 109 In Irenaeus view, the Gnostic-Valentinians called their mother the Church but also various names, some mimicking significant Christian terms: This mother they also call Ogdoad, Sophia; Terra, Jerusalem, Holy Spirit, and, with a masculine reference, Lord (AH 1.5.3). 110 It was not only that Gnosticism mimicked Christian terms, it also created a confusing ecclesiology. Like the Mother of Galatians 4:26 ( the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother ), whom Christianity associated with Sarah who represented the New Covenant of the Gentile Church, the Gnostic Mother Church also dwells above ( Enthymesin illius superioris Sophiae AH 1.4.1) 111 and herself is explicitly called ecclesia ( Quod 107 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Irenaeus, "The Writings of Irenaeus (ANCL)," 374. Irenaeus Vol 1, ANCL Vol V. Trans. Roberts & Rambaut. No Greek translation in PG. Latin from PG 7: ibid. 110 Hanc autem matrem et Ogdoadem vocant, et Sophiam, et Terram, et Hierusalem, et Spiritum sanctum, et Dominum masculiniter. PG 7:495. Greek trans. in PG 7: Latin trans. in PG 7:478,480. Greek in PG 7:477,

77 etiam ipsum Ecclesiam esse dicunt AH and Ovem enim errantem, matrem suam referunt dici, ex qua eam, quae sit hic, volunt esse seminatam Ecclesiam AH 1.8.4). 113 The clarity of Gnostic-Valentinian ecclesiology stopped here at the definitions: the confusion begins when the Church s relationship with its children or members and to Christ were explained. The Gnostic-Valentinian Mother-Ecclesia created confusion for the orthodox Christian since she or he is told the Ecclesia was not the assembly of men and women but rather the offspring of an inspiration who himself is ignorant of his own creation: But they further affirm that the Demiurge himself was ignorant of that offspring of his mother Achamoth, which she brought forth as a consequence of her contemplation of those angels who waited on the Saviour, and which was, like herself, of a spiritual nature Thus it came to pass, then, according to them, that, without any knowledge on the part of the Demiurge, the man formed by his inspiration was at the same time, through an unspeakable providence, rendered a spiritual man by the simultaneous inspiration received from Sophia. For, as he was ignorant of his mother, so neither did he recognise her offspring. This [offspring] they also declare to be the Ecclesia [Quod etiam ipsum Ecclesiam esse dicunt], an emblem of the Ecclesia which is above. This, then, is the kind of man whom they conceive of: he has his animal soul from the Demiurge, his body from the earth, his fleshy part from matter, and his spiritual man from the mother Achamoth. 114 By presenting a mother Church that imparted true knowledge, it is possible that Irenaeus was leading his audience away from the Gnostics own mother to be led to the true Mother, the Catholic Church as Irenaeus himself says: 112 Latin trans. in PG 7: Greek in PG 7:501, Latin trans. in PG 7:530. Greek in PG 7: AH in Irenaeus, "The Writings of Irenaeus (ANCL)," 24. Irenaeus Vol 1, ANCL Vol V. Trans. Roberts & Rambaut. Latin trans. in PG 7: Greek in PG 7:501,

78 We do not misrepresent [their opinions on] these points; but they do themselves confirm, they do themselves teach, they do glory in them, they imagine a lofty [mystery] about their Mother, whom they represent as having been begotten without a father, that is, without God, a female from a female, that is, corruption from error. 115 d) A Background of Anatolian Worship Peper proposes that a pagan maternal deity may have had more influence in Irenaeus utilisation of the metaphor than previously acknowledged. He says it is most likely that the imagery did arise first in Asia Minor, given its early robust usage by the Church of Lyon and the predominance of the Great Mother cult in Asia Minor. 116 He continues on to say that the origins of the use of Mother Church cannot be pinpointed but can only be conjectured as originating with Irenaeus, basing his theory from a reading of Nautin s Lettres et écrivains chrétiens. 117 Susan Elliott similarly suggests the high influence of the Great Mother cult of Asia Minor for Paul s Galatian audience in Galatians 4:21-5: For this reason, when Paul creates the comparison between the enslaved Hagar and the mother who is free, he is helping his audience to see the emptiness of worship of the Anatolian Mother Goddess who is also enslaved and to choose a mother who is free and from above. Elliott also argues that Paul was also trying to prevent a return to the Jewish way of living through the covenant law. Paul s reference to Hagar was both a 115 AH in ibid., 373. Irenaeus Vol 1, ANCL Vol V. Trans. Roberts & Rambaut. Latin: Haec non nos diffamamus, sed ipsi confirmant, ipsi docent, gloriantur in ipsis altum sentient de Matre, quam sine patre dicunt genitam, hoc est sine Deo, feminam a femina, quod est ex errantia corruptelam. Latin trans in PG 7:970. No Greek trans in PG. 116 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", ibid., 33-34; cf. footnote 53, p Susan M. Elliott, "Choose Your Mother, Choose Your Master: Galatians 4:21-5:1 in the Shadow of the Anatolian Mother of the Gods.," Journal of Biblical Literature 118, no. 4 (1999). 62

79 reference to the Anatolian Mother-Goddess and her local expressions as well as the Jewish covenant law. 119 It is possible to surmise that the Christian community of Lyons was highly influenced by the cult worship of the Anatolian Mother Goddess. This community not only had members with a background of Anatolian worship but also because the community was reminded of this background of worship of the Mountain Mother through the geography of Lyons itself with its two hills or mountains (Fourvière and Croix Rousse) bordering on the north and west of this peninsular city. It is possible that when proposing the image of the Church as Mother in his writings, Irenaeus was not only competing with the Gnostic mother but also with the traditional local pagan mother goddess. This hypothesis of the influence of the Anatolian Mother Goddess image on the Lyon community can be supported by Plumpe s own investigations into the beginnings of mater ecclesia. In his exploration of Mater Pistis who precedes Mater Ecclesia, Plumpe recognised an unusual coincidence in the use of mater by both pagan-gnosticism and Christianity early before the second century by which time it became common. He says: the concurrence of pagan-gnostic and Christian personification of the same or analogous religious elements is significant. For one thing, it is plain that in the territory nearest the cradle of Christianity, in the Orient, particularly the Near East personification of the Christian faith was especially favored; there it appeared first and became popular. There the emergence of the Church itself becoming more and more a visible reality, as Μητηρ Εκκλησία if it had not taken place already was imminent, at least by the second century. And though 119 Elliott shows that the law becomes a manifestation of the Mother of the Gods, the one associated with the city of Jerusalem. A relationship with the law (this Mother) is formed through circumcision. Just as the Galli (priests of the Anatolian Mother Goddess) castrate themselves in devotion to her, Elliott says Paul creates an association of similar enslavement when the Galatians wished to return to the Sinaic law. Ibid. 63

80 in the surviving documents she first appeared as such in the West at Lyons, as we shall see she actually had been introduced there from the East. 120 Mother may have been an acceptable ecclesial image to the Gallic community of Lyons not simply because it had been part of their Christian tradition but also because either they had previously participated in the worship of a maternal entity larger than themselves or in the least their background and geography reminded them of this inescapable aspect of their culture. 2. Mary as Mother Church? In the use of a mother metaphor for the Church, Irenaeus presented an image rather than explicitly naming the Church as such. Similarly, Irenaeus refused to explicitly call Mary a mother. 121 This rhetorical ploy is explained by Irenaeus himself: For whether the Saviour or their Mother (to use their own expressions, proving them false by means of the very terms they themselves employ) used this Being, as they maintain, to make an image of those things which are within the Pleroma 122 A number of theologians argue that despite the lack of direct connections made between Mother Church and Mary, the early Patristic writers such as Irenaeus had intuited this link as seen in his description of Church as mother, spouse, and virgin and Mary as mother and 120 Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, In AH Mary is called the virgin with a son or virgin. The Church is simply called Church (example in AH , ) or Church of God (example in AH ), and her motherhood implied when Irenaeus attributes children to her (Proof 94) and describes her as nourishing from her bosom (AH , ) explicitly named when she is called virgin mother (Proof 97). But mother and church are never placed alongside each other as written text. 122 AH in Irenaeus, "The Writings of Irenaeus (ANCL)," 233. Irenaeus Vol 1, ANCL Vol V, Trans Roberts and Rambaut. No Greek trans. in PG. Latin from PG 7: Latin: Sive enim Salvator, sive Mater ipsorum (ut propria ipsorum dicamus, per sua ipsorum propria mendaces eos arguentes) usa est hoc, ut dicunt ad faciendam imaginem eorum, quae intra Pleroma sunt. 64

81 virgin. 123 This is doubtful as there appears something deliberate about the use of the images of breasts (AH ) and womb (AH ) for Church in the Letter of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne only, and none at all in Adversus Haereses) but only womb for Mary and in a different sense to the use of womb when Irenaeus spoke of the Church as mother. The collapse of the two figures, Mary and the Church would also collapse the particular arguments Irenaeus made when he utilised each one. In AH Irenaeus associated the words fruit of the belly ( de fructu ventris, AH ), inheritance of the flesh ( carnis haereditatem, AH ) with womb images connected to Mary whilst for the Church, the womb image was only found once in Letter (ΗΕ ) and not at all in AH. Meanwhile the image of the bosom is associated with the maternal Church but not for Mary ( neque a mammillis matris nutriuntur in vitam AH ). It is apparent that Mary s motherhood was utilized to confirm Christ s humanity when Irenaeus writes Those, therefore, who allege that He took nothing from the Virgin do greatly err, [since,] in order that they may cast away the inheritance of the flesh, they also reject the analogy 123 Juan L. Bastero, Mary, Mother of the Redeemer: A Mariology Textbook (Dublin ; Portland, Or.: Four Courts Press, 2006), 34; Brendan Leahy, The Marian Profile in the Ecclesiology of Hans Urs Von Balthasar (New York/ London/ Manila: New City Press, 2000), 20; Joseph Ratzinger, "On the Position of Mariology and Marian Spirituality within the Totality of Faith and Theology," in The Church and Women: A Compendium, ed. Helmut Moll(San Fransisco: Ignatius Press, 1988), 74. Juan Luis Bastero says Irenaeus is due credit for the first to discover the analogy of that (which) exists between Mary and the Church. Brendan Leahy, reflecting on the Marian Profile in the ecclesiology of Hans Urs Von Balthasar claims that From the time of Justin and Irenaeus, in fact, the concepts virgin-mother-church and virgin-mother-mary are so intertwined that in a sense, they cannot be separated. Joseph Ratzinger says: we find in the ecclesiology of the period of the Fathers a preliminary adumbration of the whole of mariology, albeit without naming the name of the Mother of the Lord: the Virgo Ecclesia, the Mater Ecclesia, the Ecclesia immaculate, the Ecclesia assumpta everything that will one day be mariology is present here as ecclesiology. 65

82 [between Him and Adam] ( Errant igitur qui dicunt, eum nihil ex Virgine accepisse; ut abjiciant carnis haereditatem abjiciant autem et similitudinem. ) 124 Irenaeus sought to refute the Gnostic claim that Christ was the proper son of their Demiurge and merely passed through Mary just as water flows through a tube ( qui per Mariam transierit, quemadmodum aqua per tubum transit ). 125 This idea of Mary as mother as mere container to Jesus, would not have been uncommon in the ancient Greek world. Garland explains how in Eumenides of Aeschylus, Apollo perceives the mother as mere nurse of the newly-implanted seed and in which the father is the true parent. 126 The Gnostics believed that Jesus was fully divine and only appeared human (see AH book 1, chapter 7). So it was quite outrageous as well as challenging for the Church to claim that Jesus did take on the flesh of Mary since this opposed the cultural understanding of the role and physiology of a mother. In this way Mary s purpose as mother differed in purpose to Irenaeus naming of the Church as a mother, which was mainly utilised in AH to contrast with Gnostic claims to privileged knowledge of the Christian faith as already shown above. By collapsing Mary into the image of Mother Church and or vice versa, it would not be recognising Irenaeus s purposes of challenging two separate claims by the gnostics Christ s solely divine nature and their privileged claims to knowledge and truth. 124 AH Latin and Greek trans from PG 7: English trans from Irenaeus, "The Writings of Irenaeus (ANCL)," 359. Irenaeus Vol 1, ANCL Vol V. Trans. Roberts and Rambaut. 125 AH Latin and Greek trans from PG 7: English trans. from ibid., Garland, "Mother and Child in the Greek World":

83 Chapter Conclusion By the time Irenaeus applies the image of mother to the Church, it was already a commonly accepted ecclesial image in the Lyons and Vienne Christian communities. Irenaeus developed this familiar image to present the Church as the intercessor-martyr (who seeks the salvation of her children), as bride and virgin (the true partner of God representing redemption and communion of the Church), as the breastfeeding mother (source of orthodox truth in contrast to Gnostic truth). He shows mother Church as the guaranteed place of orthodox truth because it has the Spirit of God (AH ). It is only through the Catholic Church (AH 3.4.1) with its guarantee of true teaching through apostolic succession 127 which incorporates both the NT and OT (AH 4.8.1; 128 4:9) 129 that one learns of such things such as the true origin of the world (AH 2.2.1), oneself (AH ), God, and Christ. In having this true knowledge, the Catholic Church, in contrast to the Gnostic churches, is thus the only place where one finds salvation. 130 Irenaeus images were not conflated, allowing each image to present a particular aspect of the Church. Irenaeus does not create a new maternal image of the Church but takes his source for maternal images from established custom and from scripture, and centres his ideas on recapitulation in Christ and order or 127 since the apostles, like a rich man [depositing his money] in a bank, lodged in her hands most copiously all things pertaining to the truth. In AH Irenaeus, "The Writings of Irenaeus (ANCL)," 264. Irenaeus Vol 1, ANCL Vol V. Trans. Roberts and Rambaut. No Greek trans. in PG. Latin trans. from PG 7: Vain, too, is [the effort of] Marcion and his followers when they [seek to] exclude Abraham from the inheritance, to whom the Spirit through many men, and now by Paul, bears witness, that he believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. In AH in ibid., 396. No Greek trans. in PG. Latin trans. from PG 7: There is but one author, and one end to both covenants ibid., 399. No Greek trans. in PG. Latin trans. from PG 7: For she is the entrance to life; all others are thieves and robbers (AH 3.4.1) ibid., 264. No Greek trans. in PG. Latin trans. from PG 7:

84 fittingness. The associations of the ecclesial mother presented by Irenaeus are basic, where her womb and breasts are essentially her defining characteristics for birthing new members and breastfeeding them with her teachings. The image of a breastfeeding mother is centred on refuting the Gnostics claim to have exclusive and improved truths to Christianity. For Irenaeus, it is the knowledge from Christ that is the real truth, and this is transmitted only through the nurturing breast milk of the Church. It was shown that Irenaeus image of the Church having a womb has a distinct purpose from his reference to the womb of Mary. The womb image was applied to the Church as mother once, in Letter and not in AH. But this pointed to the formation of the Christian by the Word of God in the Church. The reference to Mary s womb was making the point that Jesus took flesh within her, to counter Gnostic claims that Mary was mere container for her son. Irenaeus had a clear distinction between his understanding of Church as mother and Mary, and the later association between the two should not be read back into his thoughts. It is highly possible that Irenaeus takes into account that the Gnostics have their own version of Mother Church and thus he uses the image to lead his audience away from the Gnostic mother and back towards their Catholic mother. It is also probable that Irenaeus is trying to compete with any remaining traces of worship of the Anatolian mother goddess especially when the geography of Lyons would readily lend to the worship of this female divinity associated with hills. Osborn s methodologies of reading Irenaeus especially its content, contour, and conflicts provide a way of summarising Irenaeus uses of the Church as Mother as metaphorical image: First it reinforces the idea that 68

85 Irenaeus could speak of the Church as Mother who gives true knowledge as opposed to the Gnostic Mother and at the same time also use the Mother of God to emphasise Christ s humanity without intending to conflate their meanings into the one Mother, so that Mother Church is not necessarily prefigured or figured allusively or unconsciously in Mary, the mother of Jesus. Second, that Irenaeus images are not ornamental and that he has used Mother for the image of the Church says something particular about the nature of the Church which no other metaphor could express as well. Third, that the Church s motherhood is to be interpreted in terms of recapitulation in Christ means that its employment negates emphasis on the mother image on its own (whatever image that may conjure anywhere beyond Irenaeus reading of Scripture, such as from culture), but is Irenaeus perception of salvific history that Sarah, the barren mother and her children, (the Christian Church) inherit the promise that Hebraic law says solely belongs to the fertile mother, Hagar and her children (the Jewish Synagogue), because of Christ (Gal 4:27). This metaphorical analysis indicates that Irenaeus development of the maternal ecclesial image meets the three criteria for what Soskice terms a living metaphor. First, for a living metaphor one recognizes a dissonance or tension in a living metaphor whereby the terms of the utterance used seem not strictly appropriate to the topic at hand. 131 Irenaeus uses this image in striking and somewhat dissonant ways: Can Christian martyrdom be an act of motherhood? Can the Church really quicken, miscarry and conceive? Is it like the she-wolf who breastfeeds her children to life? For Irenaeus the Church as mother lived precisely in the 131 Soskice, Metaphor and Religious Language,

86 death of its martyrs. Second, according to Soskice, [t]he more dead a metaphor the more readily it lends itself to direct and full paraphrase. This particular metaphor of Church as birthing and breastfeeding carries much greater affective weight and meaning than rewordings such as initiating and teaching. As such it was necessary and exceptional in the fight against the Gnostic-Valentinians who also utilized their own maternal ecclesial metaphor to claim they were the true Christians. Third, [a]n originally vital metaphor calls to mind, directly or indirectly, a model or models. Irenaeus maternal imagery taps directly into his community s web of associations regarding the mother: from the she-wolf of mythology, to the Anatolian mother, to women in the scripture, to their own cultural and personal understandings of motherhood. Thus Irenaeus development of the maternal ecclesial imagery clearly falls into Soskice s category of live metaphor and thus provides an expanded understanding of the Church. 70

87 CHAPTER II: TERTULLIAN FIRST EXPLICIT AND CONSISTENT APPLICATION OF MATER ECCLESIA Whilst Irenaeus is the first to align the concept of mother with the Christian community, according to Peper, it is Tertullian who first explicitly calls the Church Mater Ecclesia. 1 Tertullian goes beyond Irenaeus, as he personifies the Church for the first time as an entity distinct from its members. He also develops this metaphor in a new way when he pairs Mother Church with Father God. I shall argue that such a pairing is a reflection of the culture of his context, in which the Roman materfamilia was seen by the side of her spouse, the paterfamilia. However, this chapter will also argue that Tertullian is not uncritical in his use of contemporary culture; he applies a method of rejection-reappropriation in his imaging of Mother Church, rejecting the imagery of the Roman matrona whilst reappropriating the materfamilia image. Tertullian s development of the maternal ecclesial metaphor was carried out in a hostile environment. Carthage s Roman cultural tolerance for multi-religiosity was at odds with Christian exclusivist claims. On the other hand, the universal claims of the Imperial cult and its associated compulsory worship led to persecution of Christians. Schismatic movements such as Gnosticism and Marcionism also challenged the unity and stability of the Christian community. This chapter will explore how Tertullian develops his image of Mother Church in order to address these issues. 1 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia",

88 First to explicitly utilize the maternal ecclesial metaphor Throughout his career, Tertullian consistently uses the maternal metaphor to present the Church and explain its function. 2 Plumpe similarly states that [t]he earliest evidence for the use of the term mother by attribution as a title or by predication as an office or function of the Church, is found almost at the beginning of Christian Latinity, in the writings of Tertullian. 3 He interprets Tertullian s Mother Church as referring to the physical home into which the children of the Church welcome her newborn: 4 That is, the building in which the catechumens are received after having been initiated into the Church in the adjacent building which was the baptistery containing the baptismal font: for Plumpe interprets Tertullian s apud Matrem (De Bapt. 20.5) to mean in domo matris. 5 Peper argues against this theory, stating there is no evidence Tertullian links baptism with the font or a secure and particular place especially since he allows for baptisms with any body of water. 6 Moreover, for Tertullian, the parturient qualities of the baptismal font are never connected to the Motherhood of the Church. 7 Rankin points as far back as 2John1 in which he describes the 2 ibid. 3 Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, ibid., ibid., apud matrem meant domo Matris in Tertullian s De Baptismo 20.5: Therefore, blessed [friends], whom the grace of God awaits, when you ascend from that most sacred font of your new birth ( cum de illo sanctissimo lauacro noui natalis ascenditis ), and spread your hands for the first time in the house of your mother, together with your brethren ( et primas manus apud matrem cum fratribus aperitis ), ask from the Lord, that His own specialties of grace [and] distributions of gifts may be supplied you. In Tertulllian, "The Writings of Quintus Sept. Flor. Tertullianus," Ante Nicene Christian Library, (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, ). Tertullian Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, p.256 Latin from CCSL 1: Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", ibid. But Plumpe points out too that for Tertullian Mother Church also meant the Church as providing spiritual nourishment in Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia,

89 author as addressing the church congregation as mother elektei kuriai kai tois teknois autes (the elect lady and her children) to conclude that Tertullian was not the first to apply the maternal metaphor onto an ecclesial community. 8 He credits Tertullian instead with a shift in ecclesiological thinking to a more high view of Church. Previous to Tertullian, Rankin claims the Patristic writers such as Irenaeus ( CE) and Clement of Alexandria ( CE) had merely given Mother Church a comforting and teaching role. 9 In Tertullian, baptism becomes the prerequisite for a believer s right to call the Church a mother and God a father. 10 As well, for the first-time, the Church gains a separate existence such that [s]he becomes more than the sum of her membership. 11 In view of the picture of Irenaeus Mother Church from the previous chapter, I would agree that in Tertullian, for the first time Mother Church gains a distinct existence. As well, Peper states too that in Tertullian, for the first time, the pairing of Father God with Mother Church becomes linked with the necessity of baptism. 12 Yet, for the same reason Peper critiques Plumpe s observations of Tertullian s Mother Church, 13 Peper also critiques Rankin. In Peper s view, both Rankin and Plumpe do not take into consideration the ecclesiological context from which Tertullian utilizes a maternal metaphor for the Church. Thus, Peper concludes that in the two authors one finds two divergent theories: In Plumpe, Tertullian refers to Mother Church in a locative sense 8 Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, ibid., ibid., ibid., Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", ibid.,

90 that is connected to baptism, pointing to a low ecclesiology. Whilst in Rankin, Mother Church s first time pairing with Father God creates a shift toward a high ecclesiology. 14 In contrast, by considering Tertullian s ecclesiological context, one could observe that the metaphor was applied as a tool of demarcation, between insiders and outsiders of the Church and its promise of salvation. For Peper, this is the defining character of Tertullian s Mother Church and is the line of thought taken up in this chapter. 15 To this picture, I would add the idea of the Ecclesial Mother as the Roman materfamilia. The materfamilia was the mother by the side of her spouse, the paterfamilia, her purpose fulfilled in birthing, nourishing and supporting her children. Tertullian s Roman-Carthaginian audience would have been exposed to this kind of maternal propaganda and thus when presented as model for Mother Church, its reception would have been a given. But Tertullian also presented an ecclesial mother who superceded the Jewish Synagogue. In this he sought to address concerns arising from the theories of Marcion but also to grapple with the ecclesial reality of a Judaic faith distinctly separating itself from the Christian community. These ideas will be explored in more detail after the preliminary explorations of Tertullian s background, significance and rhetorical method. 14 ibid., ibid. 74

91 Background & Significance It is commonly believed that Septimius Tertullianus was born in Carthage to pagan parents around CE. David Wright says that his birth and death details are actually unknown and that Jerome simply mentions Tertullian lived to a decrepit old age. 16 Further, Geoffrey Dunn questions other details of Tertullian s early life: the ideas that Tertullian s father was a centurion, that Tertullian was a presbyter, that he was a jurist and that he lived a long life. Some scholars, possessed of the same revisionist spirit, have also questioned his legal background, and even whether his Montanism meant that he became a schismatic. 17 All that can be said of Tertullian s background was that he grew up as a pagan, 18 converted to Christianity in 193 CE, was married to a Christian (Ad Uxorem, To My Wife 1.1.1), was referred to as the Master by Cyprian who read his work daily, 19 remained in Carthage the whole of his life, had a rhetorician s education, served his community as a teacher rather than a presbyter, and became a Montanist from CE. There is unanimous agreement among early Patristic scholars that Tertullian is the first to write Christian literature in Latin, laying the foundations for reflections by later Patristic writers. 20 Peper quotes Rankin in observing that first and second century Patristic writers took the existence of the Church for granted, applying biblically imagery onto it in an 16 David Wright, "Tertullian," in The Early Christian World, ed. Philip F. Esler(London: Routledge, 2000), Geoffrey D. Dunn, "Tertullian," in The Early Church Fathers Series, ed. Carol Harrison (London/ New York: Taylor & Francis, 2005). Location 124 of 5006, Kindle edition. 18 ibid. Location 144, Kindle. 19 Wright, "Tertullian," ibid., 1030.; Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 271, Kindle; Drobner, The Fathers of the Church, Schatzmann, 153.; Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia",

92 eisegetical manner. 21 The late second and early third centuries saw the Church s identity becoming defined in response to a multitude of heresies. 22 Tertullian of this second period, laid the ecclesiological groundwork for which he set out the nature and authentic membership of the Church more frequently than any previous Western Christian. 23 Tertullian s Rhetorical Method As a Christian writer, Tertullian spent vast energies on demarcating between pagans, Jews, heretics and Christians. Wright says Tertullian encouraged listeners to detest the surrounding pagan culture. 24 This is consistent with Peper s general theory that Mater Ecclesia was used as a tool of demarcation by early North African Fathers and in Tertullian s case, as a tool of demarcation between those who have a true relationship with the Church, and therefore have access to God and salvation, and those who did not, the pagan world. 25 This demarcation was not just applied to the maternal ecclesial metaphor but was Tertullian s general approach: that there was to be no doubt in deciding for or against the Christian religion. 26 In this he mirrored an us and them mentality of the rhetoricians of his day. 27 But, he differed with the rhetoricians in their primary aims to delight and impress: for Tertullian the main purpose of Christian rhetoric was to persuade audiences Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", ibid. 23 ibid. 24 Wright, "Tertullian," Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 268, Kindle. 27 ibid. Location 264, Kindle. 28 Geoffrey D. Dunn, "Rhetoric and Tertullian's De Virginibus Velandis," Vigiliae Christianae 59, no. 1 (2005): 4. 76

93 Whilst he was keen to discard his pagan background and wished to source only from Christian tradition, commentaries on Tertullian s rhetorical method show the contrary. Rankin claims that whilst no one could seriously state that Tertullian s surrounding culture remained dominant in his thoughts, they played a significant part in his writings whether in condemnation of the culture or in appreciation of it. 29 He says: [Tertullian] often employs the surrounding culture as background to the images he employs. 30 In addition, he applied his knowledge of classical culture to his writings. Dunn says Tertullian had a debt to classical culture; it influenced his thinking and writing, it provided him with a language and a methodology and it furnished him with the material against which he could react and develop his own position. 31 Wright would add that Tertullian also learnt philosophical themes from classical culture and would apply this to his theological writings. 32 Annemieke D. Ter Brugge provides a more specific method on how Tertullian employs images from society. She calls it a rejection-reappropriation approach and suggests that his reappropriation of culture for theology could be deliberate at times and indeliberate at others. She perceives him to be a complex social identity where sometimes he spoke as a Roman, sometimes a Carthaginian, and other times a Christian. 33 She provides evidence that Christian in antiquity is understood 29 David Rankin, From Clement to Origen: the Social and Historical Context of the Church Fathers (Aldershot, England/ Burlington, VT: Ashgate Pub., 2006), ibid., Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 610, Kindle. 32 In Wright, "Tertullian," Wright gives an example where Tertullian reappropriates legal Roman terms to explain the Trinity. Cf. also Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 610, Kindle, where Dunn provides an example of Tertullian reappropriating terms from everyday speech into his theological arguments. 33 Annemieke D. Ter Brugge, "Between Adam and Aeneas: Tertullian on Rejection and Appropriation of Roman Culture," Studia Patristica XLVI, (2010):

94 today as a mix of ethnic, political and religious identities wholly interconnected. 34 Rankin, Dunn, and Ter Brugge s theories provide the possibility that Tertullian s sources for imaging Mother Church did not solely derive from Christian tradition but also from his surrounding culture either by deliberate or indeliberate reappropriation, reaction to or application of ideas. Whilst referring to maternal scriptural figures to describe Mother Church, it is possible Tertullian also had in mind pervading cultural ideas of mother in his ancient Roman city of Carthage. Is there evidence Tertullian reappropriated ideas of the mother from his surrounding culture? Explicitly, he places no value in the Roman mother-goddess and popular worship of her in her many forms (as the Great Mother, or Ceres, or Flora): For he sought to condemn what he saw as idolatry and instead he praised the Christian renunciation of anything pagan: You have festivals bearing the name of the great Mother and Apollo, of Ceres too, and Neptune, and Jupiter Latiaris, and Flora, all celebrated for a common end But in the matter of idolatry, it makes no difference with us under what name or title it is practised there is the same idolatry; there is on our part the same solemn renunciation against all idolatry. 35 In addition, Tertullian had criticism for other cultures relations with their mothers, accusing the Persians and Macedonians of incest, lust, and adultery: Then who are more given to the crime of incest than those who 34 See ibid., 3-4, 7, and footnote 4 for citations to Denise K. Buell and Maykel Verkuyten on complex social identities. Ter Brugge says that despite the social identity complexity and the shifts in rhetorical strategies, Tertullian s overall concept of the world is consistent and she does this by showing Tertullian s rejectionreappropriation approach which is commonly utilized by minority movements in this case the Christian movement is the minority pre-constantinian era. 35 De Spectaculis, On the Games In Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, pp Latin: Megalenses enim et Appolinares, item Cereales et Neptunales et Latiares et Florales in commune celebrantur; Sed de idololatria nihil differt apud nos, sub quo nomine et titulo, una idololatria, una renuntiatio nostra adversus idololatrian. CCSL 1: , 12-13,

95 have enjoyed the instruction of Jupiter himself? Ctesias tells us that the Persians have illicit intercourse with their mothers. The Macedonians, too, are suspected on this point. 36 In criticising other cultures relations with their mothers, Tertullian inadvertently commends the Christian choice for chastity: A persevering and steadfast chastity has protected us from anything like this: keeping as we do from adulteries and all postmatrimonial unfaithfulness, we are not exposed to incestuous mishaps. 37 Livy records similar immoral practices by the Bacchanalia cult brought into Roman culture, the number of adherents itself amounting to a second nation. 38 The cult was suppressed immediately when it was brought to knowledge in the Roman senate in 186 BCE. For [t]he senators were seized with great alarm, both for the public, in case these conspiracies and assemblies might be harbouring some secret treachery or danger, and privately for each himself, in case any connection of their family might be involved in the evil 39 Dionysius of Halicarnassus too records other undignified religious practices imported by Barbarian and Greek religions into Roman culture, which he contrasted with the decorous nature of Roman religious practice: No festival is observed by the Romans any instances of divine possession, Corybantic frenzies, religious begging rituals, Bacchic rites and secret mysteries, all-night vigils 36 Apolog In ibid., 73. Latin: Proinde incesti qui magis, quam quos ipse Jupiter docuit? Persas cum suis matribus misceri Ctesias refert. Sed et Maccedones suspecti CCSL 1: Cf. also Ad Nationes Apolog In ibid., Latin: Nos ab isto eventu diligentissima et fidelissima castitas sepsit, quantum que ab stupris et ab omni post matrimoium excessu, tantum et ab incesti casu tuti sumus. CCSL 1: Livy, History of Rome, , in Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland, Ancient Rome: From the Early Republic to the Assasination of Julius Caesar (London and New York: Routledge, 2005), Livy, History of Rome, , in ibid. 79

96 of men and women together in temples or any other trickery of this kind, but there is a reverence in all their words and actions in respect of the gods, which is not seen among either Greeks or barbarians and the thing that I have marvelled at most of all is that, although the city has attracted tens of thousands of peoples who are compelled to worship their native gods according to the customs of their homelands, it has never publicly adopted any of these foreign practices The [Roman] city is extremely cautious with respect to religious customs which are not native to Rome and regards as inauspicious all pomp and ceremony which lacks decorous behavior. 40 It is without surprise then that the Roman-minded Tertullian accuses those within his Roman audience of not acting within the boundaries of Roman decorum: You are always praising antiquity, and yet every day you have novelties in your way of living. From your having failed to maintain what you should, you make it clear, that, while you abandon the good ways of your fathers, you retain and guard the things you ought not. 41 Rankin, Peper and Plumpe do not indicate any reappropriation of the mother of the surrounding Roman-African culture and state that Tertullian s sources derive only from early Patristic writers and scripture, even if Tertullian had not explicitly sourced them. For Rankin, Tertullian s sources are Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria and the Lady Elect of 2 John For Plumpe, it is the Christian community as Lady Elect in 2 John 1 and Peper questions these Johannine sources as this Lady Elect seemed to image a cosmically pre-existent revelatory rather than a Christian community. 44 He distinguishes between the singular Mater Pistis in the 40 Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities , in ibid., Apolog 6.9. In Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, p.66. Latin: Laudatis semper antiquos, sed noue de die uiuitis. Per quod ostenditur, dum a bonis maiorum institutis deceditis, ea uos retinere et custodire, quae non debuistis, cum quae debuistis non custoditis. CCSL 1: Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia",

97 Shepherd of Hermas visions and the plural Mater Ecclesia first recorded in Irenaeus Churches of martyrs in Lyons and Vienne. 45 For Peper, Irenaeus and Galatians 4:21-31 would have been Tertullian s main sources for the image even if Plumpe argues that Tertullian only mentions Galatians to reclaim Marcion s misinterpretation of the passage. 46 They also note that the maternal image was in common usage by the time Tertullian explicitly names the Church as such, implying that the metaphor was utilized because it was an accepted concept. This chapter proposes that whilst the maternal metaphor was in common usage and therefore simply accepted, the maternal picture presented was culturally familiar, and therefore added to her acceptability for Tertullian s audience. Mother Church Texts and Contexts Tertullian s Mother Church texts are found in Ad Martyras (Ad. Mart., To the Martyrs, c.197), De Baptismo (De Bapt., On Baptism, c ?), De Oratione (De Orat., On Prayer c ?), De Praescriptione Haereticorum (De Praes., On the Prescription of Heretics, c. 203), De Carne Christi (De Carne., On the Flesh of Christ c.206), 47 De Anima (On the Soul c. 206/207), Adversus Marcionem (Adv. Marc., Against Marcion, c ), De Monogamia (De Monog., On Monogamy, c.210/211), and in De Pudicitia (De Pud., On Modesty, c. 210/211) ibid., ibid., Dates are from Timothy David Barnes, Tertullian: A Historical and Literary Study (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), 55. Rankin also follows T.D.Barnes dating for Tertullian s texts. Rankin lists these texts in order from the period between middle of the first decade of the third century (as per Barnes dating). In Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, xvii. 48 As per Barnes dating (cf. previous footnote), these texts (from De Anima to De Pudicita) are written in the period beyond 207. In Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, xvii. 81

98 His utilization of the maternal ecclesial metaphor arose from what Peper saw as an environment that became hostile to Christianity. He claims the growth in number of Christians in the Roman provinces of Proconsular Africa, Numidia, and Mauretania and in almost all professions and social strata created hostility from the broader society. 49 In the years 180, 197-8, 203, 211 CE Christians were placed on trial and executed. Peper believes the very foundations of North African Christianity were set in opposition to the broader society. 50 This was probably due to the African intolerance towards Christianity s exclusivist claims in an environment which generally welcomed a variety of religions from Rome, Greece, Egypt, Asia and the East. 51 Christianity s exclusivity also had implications for Roman juridical practice: Whilst encouraged to give to Caesar what belongs to him and to God what is God s, the refusal to participate in the Imperial cult s offerings to the gods would have perceived Christians as breaking the law and encouraging others to follow suit. 52 On Idolatry was written for this purpose to convince Christians to distinguish themselves from secular culture even if they were encouraged to participate in it, in as far as they did not commit idolatry: 53 Idolatry is condemned, not on account of the persons which are set up for worship, but on account of those its observances, which pertain to demons. The things which are Caesar s are to be rendered to Caesar. It is enough that He set in apposition thereto, and to God the things which are God s Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", ibid., Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa, Smither, Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 799, Kindle. 53 ibid. Location 805, Kindle. 54 On Idolatry Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, Trans. Roberts and Donaldson, p.163. Latin: Idololatria non propter personas, quae opponuntur, sed propter officia ista damnata est, quae ad daemones pertinent. 82

99 Tertullian s Mother Church will seem to be a continuation of Irenaeus image of Mother Church that spiritually births new Christians and (breast)feeds them with spiritual teaching (De Bapt and Ad Mart. 1.1). In addition to providing spiritual food, Tertullian s Mother Church will also provide for her children s material needs (Ad Mart. 1.1). But in contrast to Irenaeus, Tertullian s Mother Church can be distinguished separately from the community: She becomes more than the sum of her membership. 55 Rather than interceding on her children s behalf, this Mother is the only point from which one can make contact with God the Father and plead for oneself. As Eric Osborn says: The church as mother goes beyond the source of nourishment to represent a more exalted figure alongside God as father. 56 Whilst it can now be distinguished from the community, Tertullian s Mother Church generally does not appear in isolation she is either paired with Father God as his spouse (De Bapt. 20.5, De Monog ) or associated with the family altogether (father and son De Orat , father and brothers De Bapt. 20.5, De Carne. 7.13). Mother Church is also associated with family values such as inheritance (De Bapt. 20.5, De Monog. 16.4) and belonging (De Praes., De Monog. 16.4, De Orat , De Carne. 7.13). Even when she is contrasted with the Jewish mother (The Covenant Law), just as Sarah is contrasted with Hagar in Gal (De Carne. 7.13), her children appear as inheritors of a new freedom from the law tied to Jewish practice. Tertullian s Mother Church appears to be less Reddenda sunt Caesari quae sunt Caesaris, Bene quod apposuit: et quae sunt dei deo. CCSL Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, Eric Osborn, Tertullian: First Theologian of the West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1997),

100 about the Mother image in her own right, in contrast to what will later be shown of Cyprian s Church, and more about her place and role in what is the more dominant underlying image of the ancient Roman family (familia). 57 Where Rankin claims that Tertullian is the first to pair Mother Church with Father God and Peper claims a demarcating purpose, this thesis finds that both theories support its claim that Tertullian pictured the materfamilias when proposing an image of Mother Church: For the pairing enabled Tertullian to tap into the highly valued concept of family. By emphasizing the importance of a relationship with this family through the Mother Church, Tertullian created an insider-outsider ecclesial rhetoric that was already associated with the values of belonging and inheritance arising from being part of a family. 1. Who is the Mother? a) Birther, nourisher, martyr Tertullian: As in Irenaeus Mother Church, the birthing Mother is also found in Therefore, blessed [friends], whom the grace of God awaits, when you ascend from that most sacred font of your new birth [ cum de illo sanctissimo lauacro noui natalis ascenditis ], and spread your hands for the first time in the house of your mother, together with your brethren [ et primas manus apud matrem cum fratribus aperitis ], ask 57 The ancient Roman familia normally included not only the parents and their unmarried children but also slaves. See Suzanne Dixon, The Roman Mother (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), 14. But in the exploration of Tertullian, the familia he seemed to refer to was just the father and children. Note however, it seems the more common family unit was simply the mother and her children especially in the upper classes where young women married older men which then later produced young widows. Ibid., 17. See also Ann Ellis Hanson, "Widows Too Young in their Widowhood," in I Claudia II: Women in Roman Art and Society, ed. Diana E. E. Kleiner and Susan B. Matheson(Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000),

101 from the Lord, that His own specialties of grace [and] distributions of gifts may be supplied you. 58 Tertullian noted that other pagan religions practised a similar initiation rite through a washing with water but described their water as widowed or having no connection to God: Well, but the nations, who are strangers to all understanding of spiritual powers, ascribe to their idols the imbuing of waters with the self-same efficacy. [So they do], but they cheat themselves with waters which are widowed [Sed uiduis aquis sibi mentiuntur] if the mere nature of water, in that it is the appropriate material for washing away, leads men to flatter themselves with a belief in omens of purification, how much more truly will waters render that service through the authority of God, by whom all their nature is constituted! 59 He also contrasted Christian baptism (washing in waters only once) to Jewish daily washing because [the Jew] is daily being defiled. 60 Here we can see Tertullian s rejection-reappropriation method at work. By claiming the ritual for Christianity and contrasting Jewish and pagan similar practice, Tertullian enables his audience to make sense of and choose Christian baptism over Judaism or pagan religion. It seems too that Tertullian similarly reappropriates the ancient practice of feeding milk and honey as shown below. After baptism and the saying of first prayers (primas manus), the Church as mother metaphor who births spiritual infants is reinforced, with the act of feeding the neophytes with milk and honey: 58 De Bapt. 20.5, in Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, trans. Roberts and Donaldson, p.256. Latin: Igitur benedicti quos gratia dei expectat, cum de illo sanctissimo lauacro noui natalis ascenditis et primas manus apud matrem cum fratribus aperitis, petite de patre, petite de domino peculia gratiae distributiones charismatum subiacere. CCSL 1: De Bapt , in ibid., 236. Latin: Sedenim nationes extraneae ab omni intellectu spiritalium potestatem eadem efficacia idolis suis subministrant. Sed uiduis aquis sibi mentiuntur Igitur si idolo natura aquae quod propria [materia] sit adlegendi, [in] auspici emundationis blandiuntur, quanto id uerius aquae praestabunt per dei auctoritatem a quo omnis natura earum constituta est! CCSL 1: , De Bapt. 15.3, in ibid., 250. Latin: Ceterum Israel [Iudaeus] cotidie lauat quia cotidie inquinatur. CCSL 1:

102 Hereupon we are thrice immersed, making a somewhat ampler pledge than the Lord has appointed in the Gospel. Then, when we are taken up [as new-born children], we taste first of all a mixture of milk and honey 61 Isaiah 7:14-15 shows this feeding of milk and honey not towards the infant, but rather towards a young child: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. It seems the feeding of milk and honey to infants was common practice in ancient times. Soranus, the ancient medical theorist argued against a fellow theorist, Damastes, against the feeding of milk to the infant in its first few days, evidencing this common infant feeding practice. Soranus rather recommended giving only honey moderately boiled and when it was time to give milk to the infant, that anyone but the mother should provide this since her milk was too thick and unsuitable for the digestive system of the child. Moreover, a nurse with an unquestionable moral character was to provide this nourishment since her character would pass onto the child. 62 The Epistle of Barnabas too showed this ancient practice towards the infant, in its attempt to explain to some [Christian] community in which Alexandrian ideas prevailed, 63 the significance of milk and honey: What then is the milk and the honey? Because a child is first nourished with honey, and afterwards with milk. Thus 61 De Corona 3.3, in ibid., 336. Latin: Dehinc ter mergitamur amplius aliquid respondentes quam dominus in euangelio determinauit. Inde suscepti lactis et mellis concordiam praegustamus 62 Philip Tite, "Nurslings, Milk and Moral Development in the Greco-Roman Context: A Reappraisal of the Paraenetic Utilization of Metaphor in 1 Peter 2.1-3," Journal for the Study of the New Testament 31, no. 4 (2009): "The Epistle of Barnabas," The Apostolic Fathers, (London/New York: William Heinemann/The Macmillan Co, 1912),

103 therefore we also, being nourished on the faith of the promise and by the word, shall live and possess the earth. 64 Like Irenaeus Mother Church, Tertullian s Mother also breastfed with the aim of providing spiritual sustenance as found in Ad Mart. 1.1: Blessed Martyrs Designate, Along with the provision which our lady mother the church from her bountiful breasts, and each brother out of his private means, makes for your bodily wants in the prison, accept also from me some contribution to your spiritual sustenance. For it is not good that the flesh be feasted and the spirit starve: nay, if that which is weak is carefully looked to, it is but right that that which is still weaker should not be neglected. 65 Maternal breastfeeding was so highly regarded in Ancient Roman culture that Aulus Gellius described a mother who refused her breasts to her child as like one whom aborts her own foetus. 66 Whilst in reality it was more common that a wet nurse fed a baby (even in lower class families) 67 it was believed that breastfeeding by a wet nurse rather than the natural mother was suspect because she would not only pass on poorer quality of milk and therefore less nutrition, but also pass on from her milk her extraneous moral traits 68 and her poor grasp of the Latin language. 69 Tertullian himself provides his idealized picture of the mother and child 64 The Epistle of Barnabas Trans., K. Lake. In ibid., 363. Greek: τί οὖν τὸ γάλα καὶ τὸ μέλι; ὅτι πρῶτον τὸ παιδίον μέλιτι, εἶτα γάλακτι ζωοποιεῖται οὕτως οὖν καὶ ἡμεῖς τῇ πίστει τῆς ἐπαγγελίας καὶ τῷ λόγῳ ζωοποιούμενοι ζήσομεν κατακυριεύοντες τῆς γῆς. In ibid., Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, p.1. Latin: Inter carnis alimenta, benedicti martyres designati, quae uobis et domina mater ecclesia de uberibus suis, et singuli fratres de opibus suis propriis in carcerem subministrant, capite aliquid et a nobis quod faciat ad spiritum quoque educandum. Carnem enim saginari, et spiritum esurire non prodest. Immo, si quod infirmum est curatur; aeque, quod infirmius est, negligi non debet. CCSL 1: Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae , in Dixon, The Roman Mother, 94. Needless to say, this at least was a representation of the ancient male s strong view on the matter. 67 ibid., 3, ibid., ibid.,

104 bond through the breastfeeding eventhough it was often the wet nurse who provided milk rather than the mother herself: from the very moment of birth [the soul] has to be regarded as embued with prescience, much more with intelligence. Accordingly by this intuition the babe knows his mother, discerns the nurse, and even recognises the waitingmaid; refusing the breast of another woman, and the cradle that is not his own, and longing only for the arms to which he is accustomed. 70 In Ad Mart.1.1 above, Tertullian encourages Christians in prison awaiting trial and execution, intending to give food for their spirits 71 by stating that they were more free in prison than those living in the world with its blindness and impurities. 72 Tertullian was motivated to write this text by a fear that those in prison would backslide and this was Tertullian s general fear for Christians in the world. 73 Dunn attributes Tertullian s emphasis on martyrdom in Ad. Mart. as a reaction to the Gnostic Christians, especially the Valentinians, who questioned the relevance of martyrdom. 74 He says the whole work was a plea to accept martyrdom as the will of God and that resistance to arrest was going against this will. 75 Dom. G. D. Schlegel comments that one finds in Ad Martyras a depth of feeling lacking in Tertullian s later works, in his attempt to fortify the spirit against betrayal by the flesh. 76 In addition to attending to 70 De Anima 19.8, in Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, pp Latin: quod etiam praesciens habenda sit ab ingressu natiuitatis, nedum intelligens. Exinde et matrem spiritu probat et nutricem spiritu examinat et gerulam spiritu agnoscit, fugiens extranea ubera et recusans ignota cubilia, neminem appetens nisi ex usu. CCSL 2: Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 809, Kindle. 72 ibid. Location 811, Kindle. 73 ibid. Location 827, Kindle. 74 In ibid. Location 828, Kindle. See Tertullian, Scorpiace (Antidote for the Scorpion s Sting) ibid. Location 835, Kindle. 76 Dom G.D. Schlegel, "The Ad Martyras of Tertullian and the Circumstances of its Composition," The Downside Review 61, (1943):

105 the spiritual needs of the confessors, Tertullian was also attendant to their bodily needs. One would presume spiritual food was sufficient to sustain the confessor throughout his or her torture. But it seems there was a common practice amongst Carthiginian Christians of the time in ensuring their confessors were well fed and prepared for their bodily tortures which lay ahead of them. 77 Martyrdom was the very mark of North African Christianity. 78 It was its central experience for the first 500 years. 79 The earliest evidence of Christian activity in North Africa itself was of martyrdom found in the Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs, c. July 180 CE. 80 Dunn claims that North African Christians were eager for it, and that martyrs were the role models for responding to persecution. 81 Peper explains that martyrs were accorded special privilege in the North African Church, 82 seen as having special access to heaven. With their elevated status, they were perceived to have the power to forgive sins, including that of idolatry. 83 As seen too in the previous chapter, in Irenaeus ecclesial context, martyrdom had a special place. Along with unity, it was the very mark of a Church guaranteed possession of the Holy Spirit, in turn creating a distinction between the true Church from the false. 84 Not only did Tertullian inherit a Church marked by 77 Andrew McGowan, "Discipline and Diet: Feeding the Martyrs in Roman Carthage," The Harvard Theological Review 96, no. 4 (2003). 78 Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, 10; Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 293, Kindle; Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa, Smither, 10; Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 348, Kindle. 82 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", ibid. 84 ibid., 25. Rankin suggests that the persecutions in the Lyons and Vienne Churches (177 CE) may have had some connection with the martyrdom of the twelve in 89

106 the elevated status of martyrdom but also his view of membership in the Church was extreme either one was prepared to endure persecution or he or she was to be expelled (De Praes. 3.6). 85 Wright posits that the acceptable practice of martyrdom in Carthage as defense of the Christian faith showed residual influence of the grim child-sacrificing Punic religion of pre-roman Carthage. 86 In particular, he says it is from [t]he daring blood imagery of the Passion of Perpetua and Felicity that Tertullian surmises God covets human blood. 87 For it was Tertullian who famously said the blood of Christians is seed (Apol ). 88 Barbara Tinsley explains that blood was no mere metaphor but truly considered seed for spiritual growth of the individual in the empire at the time. The Dionysian rites show blood letting and blood drinking as the necessary rites for the survival of communicants and cult. 89 The martyrdom of Christians by the Romans marked the conflict between Church and state. But the conflict was not only from outside the Church, it also occurred from within--the various interpretations fuelled by Gnosticism and Marcionism compelled Tertullian to write a number of books [for example, De Praes., Adv Marc., De Resurrectione Carnis (The Resurrection of the Flesh, c.206/7), and De Anima]. 90 But they were also Scillium, Proconsular Africa (180 CE) but shows ambiguity about this connection. He says that this former persecution resulted from a decree of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius may also apply to the latter events in North Africa. Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, Osborn, Tertullian, Wright, "Tertullian," ibid. 88 In Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, p.139. Latin: semen est sanguis Christianorum! CCSL 1: Barbara Sher Tinsley, Reconstructing Western Civilization: Irreverent Essays on Antiquity (Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press, 2006), Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia",

107 written against Montanism which sought to pull the reins in on discipline in the Church (cf. De Pud.). Because of the constant tensions within and without in what Peper claimed as the characteristic of the North African Christian experience (until the Islamic invasions), the Church was forced "to continually define and redefine its nature and membership. 91 Such were the circumstances in which Tertullian utilized Mater Ecclesia : an environment fueled by an us and them mentality, exacerbated by the persecution of Christians for their non-participation in their Imperial cultic duty of worship of Roman gods and goddeses, inheriting a blood-thirsty religious past translated into the elevation of martyrdom (the extremism of loyalty to faith even to one s death), and confusion over the exact teachings of the Church and requirements of Church membership. For Peper, Mater Ecclesia was employed to help define the nature of the Church in such an environment. For Dunn, defining the Church against the secular world helped clarify for the Christian that one lived in the world but is not of it, and as required, to die for the faith. 92 For Osborn, it was a Church that inherited a martyrdom tradition through Pepetua but was also comfortable and prosperous and had many members of the congregation ready to compromise (medicitas nostras). 93 b) Spouse of God, the Materfamilia As discussed above Tertullian s Mother Church often appeared paired with Father God or is associated with the family and family values such as inheritance and belonging. It seems Tertullian presented Mother Church less as the exalted matrona, the Roman imperial mother celebrated 91 ibid., Cf. Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 799, Kindle. 93 Osborn, Tertullian,

108 in ancient Roman culture for her beauty, fertility, and moral virtue, 94 and more as the materfamilias, the mother who exists not in or for herself but for her children 95 and husband. 96 For Tertullian had low regard for the matrona 97 and saw the woman s place as to be lorded by the man ( In pains and in anxieties dost thou bear [children], woman; and toward thine husband [is] thy inclination, and he lords it over thee. De Cultu Feminarum, On Female Dress 1.1.). 98 In Tertullian s view, the low character of the matrona was reflected in her preoccupations with jewelry, cosmetics and clothing as the wearer of these 94 Diana E. E. Kleiner, "Imperial Women as Patrons of the Arts in the Early Empire," in I Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome, ed. Diana E. E. and Susan B. Matheson Kleiner(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996), 28, Once married, a woman was expected to bear children and to educate them by instilling Roman moral values The Roman mother s aim was to advance her children economically, socially, and professionally. In Diana E. E. and Susan B. Matheson Kleiner, ""Her Parents Gave Her the Name Claudia"," in I Claudia II: Women in Roman Art and Society, ed. Diana E. E. and Susan B. Matheson Kleiner(Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000), A woman was legally in the power of either her husband or her father. In Dixon, The Roman Mother, 44. But also, a woman was only recognised in relation to her father or husband just as Livia received her recognition because of her relation to her husband. She was the princeps femina, wife of the princeps, first empress of Rome. In Kleiner, "Imperial Women as Patrons of the Arts," 30. In fact the Roman matrona was also a materfamilia so this argument may seem redundant. However, not all materfamiliae were recognized as having the esteemed qualities of a matrona. The distinction made between the two in this chapter highlights that in Tertullian, the mother image used is mother of the family or in relation to them, rather than the mother who stands in her own right celebrated for her beauty and virtues. This argument will become clearer once the reader has compared this maternal ecclesial figure to that in Cyprian in the next chapter. Note also that in A Latin Dictionary by Lewis and Short, mātrōna is a reference to a married woman whether she was in manu or not; consequently more general in its application than materfamilia, which always denoted one who was in manu. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short, "A Latin Dictionary" entry%3dmatrona1 (accessed July 17, 2014). In manu refers to the state of the woman under the hand or control of her father, husband, male relative, master, or tutor. 97 cf. Elizabeth A. Clark, "Status Feminae," in Tertullian and Paul, ed. Todd D. and David E. Wilhite Still(NewYork/London/New Delhi/Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2013), In Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, p.304. Latin: In doloribus et anxietatibus paris, mulier, et ad uirum tuum conuersio tua, et ille dominatur tui CCSL 1:

109 items. 99 In bearing them the matrona showed conduciveness to anything but integrity (integritas) 100, chastity (castitas) 101, and the fear of God (timor dei) (De Cul. Fem ). 102 Clark explains Tertullian s perspective on the matronae: In their sumptuous living, these errant Christians appear to glory in the wrong things. 103 Only glory in the lacerated flesh, the martyred flesh, is to be upheld rather than glory in the adorned body and not even in the body that has died in the process of giving birth ( seek not to die on bridal beds, nor in miscarriages, nor in soft fevers, but to die the martyr s death, that He may be glorified who has suffered for you. De Fuga in Persecutione 9.4). 104 To him, marriage was not motivated by love but simply something women fall into as Clark describes. 105 As a married woman then, the only appropriate behaviour and comportment for her is to be found in the model of the Church as bride: if the church as the Bride of Christ is characterized by submissiveness, humility, obedience and discipline, how much more should human brides express these characteristics? Clark, "Status Feminae," Integritas can mean any of the following: completeness, soundness, purity, correctness, blamelessness, innocence, and chastity. In Charlton Thomas Lewis, An Elementary Latin Dictionary (Oxford [England]: Clarendon Press, 1891). 101 Castitatis is purity or chastity in ibid. 102 In Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, p.306. What is the quality of these things may be declared meantime, even at this point, from the quality of their teachers; in that sinners could never have either shown or supplied anything conducive to integrity, unlawful lovers anything conducive to chastity, renegade spirits anything conducive to the fear of God. Latin: Haec qualia sunt, interim iam ex doctorum suorum qualitate et conditione pronuntiari potest, quod nihil ad integritatem peccatores, nihil ad castitatem adamatores, nihil ad timorem dei desertores spiritus aut monstrare potuerunt aut praestare. CCSL 1: Clark, "Status Feminae," ibid. Text is in Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, p.369. Latin: Nolite in lectulis nec in aborsibus et febribus mollibus optare exire, sed in martyriis, uti glorificetur qui est passus pro uobis. CCSL Clark, "Status Feminae," 142. See De Virg Vel 17.1 (CCSL ). 106 ibid.,

110 Tertullian utilises the image of Eve as spouse of Adam to parallel the image of Church as spouse to Christ: But, presenting to your weakness the gift of the example of His own flesh, the more perfect Adam that is Christ, more perfect on this account as well [as on others], that He was more entirely pure stands before you, if you are willing [to copy Him], as a voluntary celibate in the flesh. If, however, you are unequal [to that perfection], He stands before you a monogamist in spirit, having one church as His spouse, according to the figure of Adam and Eve, which [figure] the apostle interprets of that great sacrament of Christ and the church, [teaching that], through the spiritual, it was analogous to the carnal monogamy. 107 Taking the analogy further, Tertullian described that as Eve was born from the side of Adam (his rib), so the Church was born from the side of Christ s wound on His side: For as Adam was a figure of Christ, Adam s sleep shadowed out the death of Christ, who was to sleep a mortal slumber, that from the wound inflicted on His side might, in like manner [as Eve was formed], be typified the church, the true mother of the living. 108 Tertullian also imaged the Church as a virgin, true, modest, and holy ( free from all stain 109 ): But it is in THE CHURCH that this [edict] is read, and in the church that it is pronounced; and [THE CHURCH] is a virgin! [et virgo est] Far, far from Christ s betrothed [sponsa Christi] be such a proclamation! She, the true [quae vera], the modest [quae pudica], the saintly [quae sancta], shall be free from stain even of her ears. She has none to whom to make such a promise; and if she have had, she does not make it; since even the earthly temple of God can sooner have been 107 De Monog Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol III, ANCL Vol XIII, p.30. Latin: Sed donato infirmitati tuae carnis suae exemplo perfectior Adam, id est Christus, eo quoque nomine perfectior qua integrior, uolenti quidem tibi spado occurrit in carne. Si uero non sufficis, monogamus occurrit in spiritu, unam habens ecclesiam sponsam, secundum Adam et Euae figuram, quam apostolus in illud magnum sacramentum interpretatur, in Christum et ecclesiam, competentes carnali monogamiae per spiritalem. CCSL2: De Anima 43.10, in ibid. Tertullian Vol II, ANC Vol XV, p.509. Latin: Si enim Adam de Christo figuram dabat, somnus Adae mors erat Christi dormituri in mortem, ut de iniuria perinde lateris eius uera mater uiuentium figuraretur ecclesia. CCSL 2: Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 713, Kindle. 94

111 called by the Lord a den of robbers, than of adulterers and fornicators. 110 The purpose of this text was to assert the Church s submission and obedience to Christ and in this, the exclusion of sinners, the disobedient and faithless, was necessary. 111 Rankin comments that even with the list of Patristic precedents who have named the Church a virgin, Tertullian would have invented the image simply to emphasise that she was completely holy. 112 In contrast, heretics, those who threatened the unity of the Church, were characterised by their lack of godly fear, gravity, diligent care, ordered appointment and due discipline. 113 Rankin notes that apart from Adv. Marc , where Tertullian calls the Mother Church holy in reclaiming Marcion s reflection of Galatians 4:26, Tertullian does not appear explicitly to link the motherhood of the church to her holiness. 114 Neither does he connect the Church s motherhood with her virginity. 115 This chapter argues that the Mother Church as materfamilia, spouse to the paterfamilia and mother to his children is the image that seems to be more apparent concerning the Church s motherhood. This is without surprise seeing as family had much significance and impact on the lives of the ancient Roman society. 110 De Pud , in Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Vol III, ANC Vol XVIII, p.57. Latin: Sed hoc in ecclesia legitur, et in ecclesia pronuntiatur, et uirgo est. Absit, absit a sponsa Christi tale praeconium! Illa, quae uera est, quae pudica, quae sancta, carebit etiam aurium macula. Non habet, quibus hoc repromittat; et si habuerit, non repromittit, quod et terrenum Dei templum citius spelunca latronum appellari potuit a Domino, quam moechorum et fornicatorum. CCSL 2: cf. Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, ibid., Osborn, Tertullian, Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, ibid. 95

112 Michele George explains the significance of family in the ancient Roman empire: A critical element in the formation of Roman identity and citizenship, the family, provided protection, economic and emotional support, and was the institution through which wealth and property was protected and transmitted. In Roman thought, the strength of the family reflected the stability of the state, making membership in the polity of Rome itself writ small. Belonging to society was especially important for freedmen, who as slaves had been considered property and less than human, and who were eager to display their new status as Roman citizens. 116 George acknowledges that whilst this Roman family was idealized, it remained sought-after because of the multi-faceted advantages it provided the Roman free citizen, including the power to bring legal and social legitimacy to an individual who would otherwise have few ways to make a distinction in society. 117 It was also the exemplar of moral standard for Roman society where roles were distinct and characters idealized. 118 She points out that some funerary monuments present groupings of siblings who were childless or unrelated individuals as a family and reasons that this enables individuals from the same (or even different) familia [a] claim for themselves the associated normative values of social respectability while commemorating relationships which fell outside the nuclear family model. As well it guaranteed proper burial rites that were standard in a conventional family Michele George, "Family Imagery and Family Values," in Roman Family in the Empire: Roman Italy and Beyond, ed. Michele George(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), ibid., ibid., ibid., In fact there was such a thing as burial clubs in Ancient Roman society. They would meet regularly on a social basis, celebrate birthdays of the deceased, and perform kin-like obsequies. Dixon notes the importance of such groups for those who could not call on ties through kinship or patronage. In Dixon, The Roman Mother,

113 Laura Betzig discusses the lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus (18 BCE) and lex Papia Poppaea (9 CE) as giving reasons why family have such strong connotations and associations for the Roman citizen. The laws formed Augustus moral reforms for the Roman State, punishing bachelors politically, socially, and economically whilst rewarding fathers. 120 Not only bachelors, but anyone childless was punished. The more children you had, the more financial and status benefits you received from the State. 121 Roman emperors were so keen to apply the moral reforms that spies (delatores) on evaders were rewarded. 122 Even illegitimate children were kept off birth registers according to the lex Papia Poppaea. 123 Betzig theorised that the ancient Romans minimized the number of their heirs so that they may have as many illegitimate children as they pleased. That is, in Betzig s view, people married monogamously so they could mate polygonously. 124 Augustus moral reforms may have succeeded in promoting the family but it seems they not only failed to address the large number of illegitimate children within the ancient Roman society but also inadvertently encouraged their growth in number in the promotion of monogamy. Tertullian himself acknowledges the pervasive idea of family, as promoted by the Julian laws: What if a man thinks on posterity, with thoughts like the eyes of Lot s wife; so that a man is to make the fact that from his former marriage he has had no children a reason 120 Laura Betzig, "Roman Monogamy," Ethology and Sociobiology 13, no. 5 (1992): Cf. Betzig and Dixon on details of benefits for the married with children and punishment for the unmarried and childless in ibid., 356; Dixon, The Roman Mother, Betzig, "Roman Monogamy": Digest , , in ibid., ibid. 97

114 for repeating marriage? A Christian, forsooth, will seek heirs, disinherited as he is from the entire world! He has brethren; he has the church as his mother. The case is different if men believe that, at the bar of Christ as well [as of Rome], action is taken on the principle of the Julian laws; and imagine that the unmarried and childless cannot receive their portion in full, in accordance with the testament of God. 125 We see here that by naming the Church a mother, Tertullian gives the Christian a family group and consequently recognition and status. Just as childless individuals and those without family are inserted into family or family-like groups and gained advantages otherwise cut off from them, 126 so does the Christian who doubts whether his membership in a Church is worth the loss of inheritance, status, freedom, and advantages provided by the State. Tertullian s De Orat 2.6 is an example of the Mother necessarily paired with the family and its members: Nor is even our mother the Church passed by, if, that is, in the Father and the Son is recognised the mother, from whom arises the name both of Father and of Son. In one general term, then, or word, we both honour God, together with His own, and are mindful of the precept, and set a mark on such as have forgotten their Father De Monog Trans. Roberts and Donaldson, Vol.3, Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol III, ANCL Vol XVIII, p.53. Latin: Quid, si de posteritate quis cogitet iisdem animis, quibus oculis uxor Loth, ut ideo quis repetat matrimonium, quia de priore liberos non habuit? Haeredes scilicet Christianus quaeret, saeculi totius exhaeres. Habet fratres, habet ecclesiam matrem. Aliud est, si et apud Christum legibus Iuliis agi credunt, et existimant caelibes et orbos ex testamento Dei solidum non posse capere. CCSL 2: George, "Family Imagery and Family Values," Cf. also footnote 119 above on burial clubs. 127 Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol I, ANCL Vol XI, p.180. Latin: Ne mater quidem Ecclesia praeteritur, siquidem in filio et patre matre recogniscitur, de qua constat et patris et filii nomen. Vno igitur genere aut uocabulo et Deum cum suis honoramus et praecepti meminimus et oblitos Patris denotamus. CCSL 1:

115 The ancient Roman mother was idealized as the disciplinarian 128 and custodian of traditional culture, morality and virtue for the Roman Empire; it is because of virtuous mothers that the Roman Empire has virtuous sons and daughters. 129 Literature of the time evidenced praise for virtuous mothers preventing the empire s famous sons from taking disastrous courses of actions: Atia supervised the young Octavian s social life (Nicolaus 6, 10) and Agricola s mother (Tac. Agric. 4), like Nero s (Suet. Nero 52), kept her son from an excessive interest in philosophy. 130 A Roman mother was also expected to support the political aspirations of her son and in turn the son showed his appreciation. Indeed, it was possible she sought ambitions through him rather than her husband and she could even be accused of excessive maternal ambition. 131 But even without the son s intentions towards the public life, he kept a close connection with his mother and father--either by living with them 132 or in the case of a widowed, remarried or divorced mother visited her regularly since she was entitled to it. 133 A child s connection to the mother is so highly recognized that when a woman engages in a union not recognised by Roman law, the children generally take their status from their mother. 134 The paterfamilia, the father, was idealized as having the one spouse at his side; the materfamilia, promoted especially by Emperor Augustus, in 128 Dixon, The Roman Mother, ibid., 2, ibid., ibid., As Cicero suggested: that he should live with his own family, especially with his father for in my own judgement family feeling is the basis of all the virtues Latin : ut vivat cum suis, primum cum parente nam meo iudicio pietas fundamentum est omnium virtutum In ibid., ibid. 134 ibid.,

116 the figure of the univira--faithfully married to one man only, even in death. 135 To be a mother was to be a wife and vice versa. 136 Rachel Meyers says that women were not honoured apart from being someone s wife, mother or daughter. 137 She states that such family cohesion was sometimes expressed to the extent where female portraiture took on some of the physiognomy of her husband. For example, Faustina the Younger is portrayed with Emperor Marcus Aurelius prominent brow and pronounced almond-shaped eyes. 138 When Tertullian says in the Son and the Father the Mother is recognized, since upon her the terms, Father and Son depend for their meaning (De Orat. 2.6), it is possible Tertullian tapped into the understood familial associations arising from the naming of either mother, son, or father: the mother as one who stands behind the virtuous son or closely connected with him (particularly in adulthood) and the univira-wife who stands behind the paterfamilia-spouse. An example of this is seen in De Bapt 20.5 where the family image is presented. The mother does not appear on her own but with the father, brothers, and newborn, the newly baptized. It is a legitimate family with a legitimate mother alongside the father, where legitimate children are born and have a right to an inheritance (peculium). 135 For an explanation of the univira, see Dixon in ibid., 22. Whilst she was the ideal promoted by Augustus, the reality occasionally showed otherwise. Rhiannon Ash points out that the emperor s own daughter Julia usurps her own father s laws without also breaking it. From Macrobius it is recorded that Julia s unnamed friend is surprised that Julia s children look like their father, Agrippa, when she is notorious for her adultery (Saturnalia 2.5.9). Julia wittily replies to this friend that she never takes on board a passenger unless the ship is full, meaning she only had affairs when she was pregnant. Rhiannon Ash, "Women in Imperial Roman Literature " in A Companion to Women in the Ancient World, ed. Sharon L. James(Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2012), Dixon, The Roman Mother, Rachel Meyers, "Female Portraiture and Female Patronage in the High Imperial Period," in A Companion to Women in the Ancient World, ed. Sharon L. James(Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons 2012), ibid. 100

117 Betzig explains that although it was common in ancient Rome to beget as many children as one would like, only legitimate children borne to [a] legitimate wife could come into [a man s] estate. 139 Betzig summarises well the significance of marriage and the difference between a birth mother (births illegitimate children) and a matron (births legitimate children): In the Roman empire, as in other empires, mating made children, marriage made heirs. 140 Similarly, Mother Church is accompanied by brethren, her children, in Ad Mart De Praes shows how mother is associated with belonging and its antitheses, an existence in exile: Again, all heresies that have been thoroughly investigated are discovered to be of differing opinions in many things even among their own leaders. For the most part, they do not have churches outcasts without a mother, home, or faith exiles roving like hissing serpents. 141 The juxtaposition of without mother (sine matre), without home (sine sede), faithless (orbi fide = having the faith of the world), and an exile (extorres), aligns with the picture of one repudiated as an individual without family is looked down upon (according to Augustus Julian laws). As discussed above, to be outside of a family is to not only lose inheritance but also to have no status or moral respectability, to be ultimately exiled by society. Peper provides an explanation for this inside-outside rhetoric. He states that for Tertullian, unity of the Church was paramount and this was 139 Betzig, "Roman Monogamy": ibid. 141 Trans. Peper, in Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Latin: Denique penitus inspectae haereses omnes in multis cum auctoribus suis dissentientes deprehenduntur. Plerique nec ecclesias habent, sine matre, sine sede, orbi fide, extorres, quasi sibilati uagantur. CCSL 1:

118 ensured through two elements: 1) intellectual discipline doctrinal consensus through the regula fidei, where true belief is distinguished from false and 2) a practical discipline a shared discipline preserving holiness in the Church 142 and baptism was that key ritual which preserved holiness in the Church since it also required rejection of the world and the devil which in Tertullian s view led only to idolatry and death. 143 For Tertullian, if a person engaged in heresy, it is because he or she explored the faith outside of the regula fidei. 144 As well, those who engaged in murder, idolatry, fraud, apostasy, blasphemy adultery and fornication 145 committed unforgivable sins ( quae ueniam non capiant ) 146 and were to be excluded. As Tertullian said Dogs, sorcerers, fornicators, murderers, out! 147 Thus, for Tertullian, heretics are motherless, houseless, and creedless ( sine matre, sine sede, orbi fide ). 148 This perspective is supported by the cultural reality that to have no mother was to belong to no family, no household, and therefore to have no chance of inheritance, no moral standing, no support from society ibid., ibid., ibid., Cf. also "The rule of faith" in, Osborn, Tertullian, De Pud , in Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol III, ANCL Vol XVIII, p.112. Latin: homicidium, idololatria, fraus, negation, blasphemia, moechia et fornicatio CCSLII De Pud in CCSLII De Pud. 19.9, in Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol III, ANCL Vol XVIII, pp Latin: Canes uenefici, fornicator, homicida foras,.. CCSLII De Praes Haer in ibid. Tertullian Vol II, ANCL Vol XV, p.51. Latin from CCSL 1: There was the patron-client system or more correctly the patron-protégé and advocateclient relationships in Ancient Roman society, which without one s involvement would have made it very difficult for him or her to engage in the public life and move forward in one s career. The patron served as a general mentor to the prote ge, helping the protégé advance in his career financially and as advocate. The protégé would enhance the patron s status and promise to protect his patron s family and reputation after the patron s death. Similarly, the advocate engaged in a relationship of mutual benefit with his client. Rather than charge a fee for his services, the patronus would depend on his 102

119 c) One Who Supercedes All Other Mothers In De Carne 7.13 and De Monog 7.8-9, there is evidence of a bias towards the Christian family over the Jewish family: De Carne 7.13: In the abjured mother there is a figure of the synagogue, as well as of the Jews in the unbelieving brethren. In their person Israel remained outside, whilst the new disciples who kept close to to Christ within, hearing and believing, represented the Church, which He called mother in a preferable sense and a worthier brotherhood, with the repudiation of the carnal relationship. It was just in the same sense, indeed, that He also replied to that exclamation [of a certain woman], not denying His mother s womb and paps, but designating those as more blessed who hear the word of God. 150 De Monog 7.8-9: For the reason why He recalls that young man who was hastening to his father s obsequies, is that He may show that we are called priests by Him; [priests] whom the Law used to forbid to be present at the sepulture of parents: Over every dead soul, it says, the priest shall not enter, and over his own father and over his own mother he shall not be contaminated. Does it follow that we too are bound to observe this prohibition? No, of course. For our one Father, God, lives, and our mother, the Church; and neither are we dead who live to God, nor do we bury our dead, in as much as they too are living in Christ. At all events, priests we are called by Christ; debtors to monogamy, in accordance with the pristine Law of God. 151 client-friends for financial and political support. But Tertullian does not seem to be referring to this system when he utilized the maternal metaphor. See Richard P. Saller, Personal Patronage Under the Early Empire (Cambridge/ New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982), See also Clientela and Patrocinium in Dillon and Garland, Ancient Rome, Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol II, ANCL Vol XV, p.182. Latin: Sed et alias: figura est synagogae in matre abiuncta, et Iudaeorum in fratribus incredulis. Foris erat in illis Israel, discipuli autem noui, intus audientes et credentes cohaerentes Christo, ecclesiam deliniabant, quam potiorem matrem et digniorem fraternitattem recusato carnali genere nuncupauit. Eodem sensu denique et illi exclamationi *** respondit, non matris uterum et ubera negans, sed feliciores designans, qui uerbum dei adiunt. CCSL2: ibid. Tertullian Vol III, ANCL Vol XVIII, p.35. Latin: Nam et illum adulescentem festinantem ad exsequias patris ideo reuocat, ut ostendat sacerdotes nos uocari ab eo, quos lex uetabat parentum sepulturae adesse: Super omnem, inquit, animam defunctam sacerdos non introibit et super patrem suum et super matrem suam non contaminabitur. Ergo et nos hoc interdictum obseruare debemus? Non utique. Viuit enim unicus pater noster Deus et mater ecclesia, et neque mortui sumus, qui Deo uiuimus; neque mortuos sepelimus, quia et illi uiuunt in Christo. Certe sacerdotes sumus a Christo uocati, monogamiae debitores, ex pristina Dei lege CCSL2:

120 In De Carne 7.13, the Church is the preferable mother (quam potiorem matrem) with the worthier children (digniorem fraternitatem), aligning the image of the abjured mother with the Synagogue (synagogae in matre abiuncta). Similarly, De Monog speaks of the dead mother to be buried (mortuos sepelimus) according to Jewish law who is compared to the Living Mother, the Church (mater ecclesia et neque mortui sumus). This living Mother is again recalled in De Anima where Eve is named figure of the Church rather than Mary. Yet Mary will usurp Eve and other biblical mothers by the time of Ambrose as will be discussed in Chapter IV. But it is at Ad Marc in which Tertullian discusses in greater length the contrast between the children of the Jewish Mother, the Synagogue, and the Christian Mother, the Holy Church: But as, in the case of thieves, something of the stolen goods is apt to drop by the way, as a clue to their detection; so, as it seems to me, it has happened to Marcion: the last mention of Abraham s name he has left untouched [in the epistle], although no passage required his erasure more than this, even in his partial alteration of the text. For [it is written] that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond maid, the other by a free woman; but he who was of the bond maid was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise: which things are allegorized (that is to say, they presaged something besides [the literal history]); for these are the two covenants, or the two exhibitions [of the divine plans], as we have found the word interpreted, the one from the Mount Sinai, in relation to the synagogue of the Jews, according to the law, which gendereth to bondage the other gendereth [to liberty, being raised] above all principality, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is to come, which is the mother of us all, in which we have the promise of [Christ s] holy church; by reason of which he adds in conclusion: So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond woman, but of the free. In this passage he has undoubtedly shown that Christianity had a noble birth, being sprung, as the mystery of the allegory indicates, from that son of Abraham who was born of 152 ibid. Tertullian Vol II, ANCL Vol XV, p.509. Latin: Si enim Adam de Christo figuram dabat, somnus Adae mors erat Christi dormituri in mortem, ut de iniuria perinde lateris eius uera mater uiuentium figuraretur ecclesia. CCSL 2:

121 the free woman; whereas from the son of the bond maid came the legal bondage of Judaism. 153 Here Tertullian, takes from tradition the contrast between the free children of the Church and the children of the bond woman. As Litfin says: [His] interpretation of Galatians 4 stands within a well-established Christian tradition which understands the text to describe the investiture of the hopes of Israel into the Church. 154 Litfin suggests the tradition goes back to early second century in the so-called second epistle of Clement where the author thusly interprets Isaiah 54:1 (which Paul quotes in Gal 4) and moreover, that Tertullian s predecessors concentrated on the Isaian passage rather than the contrast between Hagar and Sarah. 155 They highlighted that the end of the Law s reign came about within God s sovereign plan. 156 Tertullian affirmed this but also for the first time explicitly aligned the image of Hagar with the synagogue (that which had no future) and Sarah with the Church ( one who carried forward the promises of God ) Tertullianus Against Marcion, in ibid. ANCL Vol VII, pp Latin: Sed ut furibus solet aliquid excidere de praeda in indicium, ita credoet Marcionem nouissimam Abrahae mentionem dereliquisse, nulla magis auferenda, etsi ex parte conuertit. Si enim Abraham duos liberos habuit, unum ex ancilla et alium ex libera, sed qui ex ancilla carnaliter natus est, qui uero ex libera per repromissionem, quae sunt allegorica (id est aliud portendentia); haec sunt enim duo testamenta (siue duae ostensiones, sicut inuenimus interpretatum): unum a monte Sina in synagogam Iudaeorum secundum legem generans in seruititem, alium super omnem principatum generans uim dominationem et omne nomen quod nominatur, non tantum in hoc aeuo sed et in futuro, in quam repromisimus sanctam eclesiam, quae est mater nostra ideoque adicit: propter quod, fratres, nonsumus ancillae filii, sed liberae, utique manifestauit et Christianismi generositatem in filio Abrahae ex libera nato allegoriae habere sacramentum, sicut et Iudaismi seuittitem legalem in filio ancillae, atque ita eius dei esse utramque dispositionem, apud quem inuenimus utriusque dispositionis deliniationem. CCSL 1: Bryan Mark Litfin, Tertullian's Adversus Marcionem: A Case Study in "Regular Hermeneutics" (University of Virginia, 2002), ibid., ibid., ibid.,

122 Tertullian was, in Dunn s opinion, surprised that Marcion had utilised the Galatian passage with its two covenants 158 since Marcion had rejected the Hebrew Scriptures. For Marcion, there were two gods: a bad creator tied to the Old Testament and the good creator tied to the New. He took the extreme interpretation of the Pauline notion of new law by rejecting the Old Testament altogether. In response, Tertullian understood his task as necessarily validating the Hebrew Scriptures but not Judaism. 159 For Tertullian, the Galatians passage utilised by Marcion not only mentions the two covenants but also demonstrated that it was one and the same God who created both peoples. 160 This contrasted Marcion s two deities theory and his rejection of the Hebrew Scriptures. In the passage above, Tertullian reclaims the Galatians passage from Marcion, overthrows his two-deities theory, and affirms the Hebrew scriptures link to the New Testament but at the same time invalidates Judaism. Why the need to invalidate the Jewish faith? Dunn states that Paul wrote as a Christianized Jew whilst Tertullian, as a converted pagan. 161 Many of the first generation Christians were preoccupied with the question of the practice of the Jews within Christianity or Christianity within Judaism : for example should Gentiles who wished to follow Jesus need be circumcised to be considered also a Jew? (Acts 15:1-29). Paul replied that there were no distinctions between Jews or Gentiles (Acts 15:9) Geoffrey D. Dunn, "Tertullian, Paul and the Nation of Israel," in Tertullian & Paul, ed. Todd D. Still and David E. Wilhite(New York/ London: Bloomsbury, 2013), ibid., 88. In book three of Ad. Marc. he showed the link between the Old and New Testaments by seeking to present the Christ of the New Testament as the one expected through prophecy in the Old. In ibid., ibid., ibid., 80. That is why Dunn also says Tertullian uses Pauline passages without consideration of their historical context. Ibid. 162 ibid.,

123 Meanwhile, in Carthage, during the Severan dynasty (end of second century/ beginning third century), as Judaism became more distinct from Christianity over time, the place of Jews in God s plan of salvation remained but the question turned to the possibility of two religions coexisting, generally resulting in a denial of an ongoing legitimacy of Judaism; 163 for the early Church question of the co-existence of two faiths (born a Jew but wanting to become a Christian) is no longer an issue for North African Christians. Therefore, the Jews clearly demarcated themselves from the Christians. It is to this question of co-existence of the two religions that Tertullian frequented and utilised Paul s writings, such as the letters to the Galatians, to produce a large number of literary output. 164 The contrasting of the maternal images of the Church and Synagogue served to legitimate the Old Testament but also invalidate Judaism. The preferable mother birthed Christianity. She is free from the legal bondage of Judaism. Furthermore, on the invalidation of Judaism, Tertullian dedicates a whole document, Adversus Iudaeos, and within it claims that the Gentiles are now admitted into God s favour whilst the Jews are excluded. 165 For Tertullian, it was the Jews infidelity that brought their own exclusion from God. 166 Dunn states that this was an advantageous claim for Tertullian as Christianity could be seen to be an ancient religion, respectable in the eyes of Romans, and therefore requiring greater pagan tolerance. 167 For this very 163 ibid., ibid. 165 Geoffrey D. Dunn, "The Universal Spread of Christianity as a Rhetorical Argument in Tertullian's Adversus Iudaeos " Journal of Early Christian Studies 8, no. 1 (2000): Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 921, Kindle. 167 ibid. 107

124 reason, Tertullian rejects Marcion s disregard of the Judaic origins of Christianity. 168 Such a claim would certainly align with Peper s thesis that hostility towards the Christians resulted from their growth in numbers 169 and therefore provides an explanation as to why Tertullian sought to portray Christianity s supercession over Judaism. Christianity was not only an ancient religion commanding respect but also one that could not be accused of non-participation in the Roman requirement of the worshipping of gods even if it was only one God. There are many other schools of thought regarding the purpose of Tertullian s anti-jewish polemic. 170 The first school theorises there was a competition between the two religions, especially for converts, such that the writing was directed at Jews. The second school suggests that Tertullian created them as a symbolic construct from scripture to assist the selfdefinition of Christianity. The third combine the two schools, stating that the reality of the Jew competing with the Christian for converts in the Roman empire and the symbolic Jew in Scripture were equivalent images for Tertullian. 171 Whether Tertullian was dealing with the Jews of Carthage or the symbolic abjured Jews of scripture, it is intriguing to find that he uses the image of Mother-Church superceding over Mother-Synagogue. He could have used ark or body to represent the Church, as Rankin shows 168 ibid. 169 Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", Dunn, through Efroymson, points out that Tertullian utilizes Jewishness to symbolize anything that was wrong. Dunn, "Tertullian". Location 924, Kindle. 171 ibid. Location 943, Kindle. 108

125 Tertullian does use other ecclesiological images. 172 But the metaphor works as part of a system of associated familial and maternal metaphors used in his writings: mother-birth-baptism (De Bapt 5.20), mother-breastfeedingspiritual nourishment (Ad Mart 1.1), mother-father-son (De Orat 2.6), or just mother-father (De Monog ). Moreover, Tertullian and his scripture references utilized women-mothers to represent Gentile and Jewish communities. 173 I would suggest that added to these advantages is the importance of establishing matrilineality and therefore establishing where one belongs, what creed he or she professes ( Motherless, houseless, creedless, outcasts, they wander about in their own essential worthlessness. 174 Adv Haer 42.10), and what inheritance is available ( A Christian, forsooth, will seek heirs, disinherited as he is from the entire world! He has brethren; he has the church as his mother. De Monog 16.4). This importance is not only present in the Roman culture but also in the sense of Jewish matrilineality where Jewishness is passed on through the mother. 175 The metaphor at work at many levels (inheritance through the mother as a value in Roman and Jewish culture) seeks to guarantee reception of Tertullian s message for the Roman-Carthaginian. 172 Rankin, Tertullian and the Church, Geoffrey D. Dunn, "Tertullian and Rebekah: A Re-Reading of an "Anti-Jewish" Argument in Early Christian Literature," Vigiliae Christianae 52, no. 2 (1998). 174 Tertulllian, "The Writings of Tertullian (ANCL)". Tertullian Vol II, ANCL Vol XV, p.51. Latin: Denique penitus inspectae haereses omnes in multis cum auctoribus suis dissentientes deprehenduntur. Plerique nec ecclesias habent, sine matre, sine sede, orbi fide, extorres quasi sibilati uagantur. CCSL 1: The Mishnah (Kiddushin 3:12) says that to be a Jew one must either be a child of a Jewish mother or a convert to Judaism. This law originated in the Talmud (Kiddushin 68b). 109

126 Chapter Conclusion In Tertullian, one finds the first explicit use of Mother Church as metaphor. In contrast to Irenaeus use of maternal ecclesial imagery to refer to the members of the Church, Tertullian for the first time personifies the Church as an entity distinct from its children. He also is the first to pair Mother Church with Father God, paralleling the image of the ancient Roman materfamilia by the side of her spouse, the paterfamilia. With this familial image, Tertullian attached to the Church highly regarded familial values such as inheritance and belonging (eg. De Monog 16.4 and De Praes Haer ). These concepts communicated a person s ability to engage in public life and move forward in one s career. Their importance extended even to one s death where belonging ensured appropriate obsequies were exercised. This chapter has argued that whilst the Mother Church image had been part of the North African Catholic tradition, and its image grounded in the scriptural text of Galatians 4:26, Tertullian applies a form of rejectionreappropriation method in the imaging of the ecclesial mother. Tertullian rejects (in fact, detests) the Roman matrona (De Cul. Fem ) but upholds a Roman materfamilia (De Bapt. 20.5, Ad Mart 1.1) role for the Church, enabling his Roman-Carthiginian audience to accept and relate with such an ecclesial mother. Tertullian names the Church a spouse (De Monog 5.6-7), virgin (De Pud ), and holy (Adv Marc 5.4.8) but does not connect these characteristics or titles with the motherhood of the Church (except the link he makes between holiness and motherhood in Adv Marc to reclaim Gal 4: 26 from Marcion). 110

127 Tertullian s maternal ecclesial metaphor was utilized in an environment of hostility; Christianity s exclusivity was incongruous with Carthage s Roman cultural tolerance for multi-religiosity. As well, Christianity s refusal to engage in pagan practice was anti-juridic-like and thus a threat to Roman order. Such a context for Mother Church led it to be presented as uncompromising (De Praes Haer ). Further, the metaphor was also utilized at a time when the early Church question of the co-existence of two faiths (born a Jew but wanting to become a Christian) is no longer an issue for North African Christians as by the Severan dynasty period the Jews clearly demarcated themselves from the Christians. Tertullian has a negative attitude towards Mother Synagogue, which he presents as having been superseded by Mother Church (the free woman of Galatians 4:26). This us and them ecclesiological mentality was further exacerbated by conflict experienced within the Church. Heresies such as Gnosticisms and Marcionism threatened ecclesial unity. It also did not help that Tertullian s congregation was found wanting by their willingness to compromise their faith. For Tertullian, Church unity was paramount and anyone who explored outside the intellectual and practical disciplines of the Church were simply deemed heretics, outsiders, and unforgivable. Tertullian s development of the maternal ecclesial metaphor creates a new vision of what the Church is and its relationship with God and it s members. According to Soskice s definition, a metaphor is established as soon as it is clear that one thing is being spoken in terms that are suggestive of another and can be extended, that is, until the length of our speaking of one thing in terms suggestive of another makes us forget the thing of 111

128 which we speak. 176 Whilst Tertullian continued the tradition of imaging the Church as birthing and breastfeeding, he re-envisioned and clarified its role and essence through such developments as his personification of Mother Church as a distinct entity from its members as well as his association of Mother Church with Father God. This was not a case of simply presenting an old word new tricks of applying an old label in a new way. 177 In fact, it was Tertullian who finally crystallised the pre-existing imagery to first come up with the actual term Mater Ecclesia that would become a standard image for the Church to the extent that it would become a title (and even a cliché) as holy Mother Church in which the meaning is so focused on the referent that the maternal imagery is almost completely ignored. Tertullian s Mother Church is clearly a living metaphor according to Soskice s three criterion. First, there would have been a great tension in the first juxtaposition of Mother Church with Father God this is a very high and exalted vision of Church that would have shocked and challenged those who first heard it. In fact, this metaphor was taken to its logical conclusion by Tertullian s successor Cyprian who would say that without the Church as Mother you cannot have God as Father. Rather than a community of disciples, sharing faith and supporting one another, the Church now becomes an entity in its own right. Second, there is no other phrase that could have had the same associations and same impact as Mother Church; it could not be easily replaced. What else could be partnered in such an intimate way with Father God? Tertullian s maternal Church did not merely birth new members; it essentially communicated that the only way of salvation was through baptism in the Catholic Church as the Mother Church 176 Soskice, Metaphor and Religious Language, ibid.,

129 (the materfamilia) which was inseperably bound to Father God (the paterfamilia). Tertulian s maternal metaphor created a new ecclesial vision and that which could not be achieved by the use of another metaphor. The power of this image can be seen in how it incorporates aspects of the surrounding culture as well as can be further extended by them. One example already mentioned is Tertullian s presentation of Mother Church as the Roman materfamilia. Another example is Tertullian s adaptation for baptism of the ancient Roman practice of feeding milk and honey to infants. This leads to the third criteria, the relationship to models that bring up a web of implications. By this imaging, the network of associations and implications tied to the idea of the Roman family made the maternal ecclesial metaphor very much alive for Tertullian s audience. Indeed, Tertullian s striking claims that there could be no life without the mother would have been taken seriously by his contemporaries due to the ancient Roman understanding of the crucial importance of belonging to a family. Because of the community s collective experience of being mothered by the Church (through baptism and post-baptism), because of the close relation of Tertullian s maternal metaphor to the Roman materfamilia model, and because no other metaphor could express the necessity of Mother Church, Tertullian s maternal ecclesial metaphor was not only explanatory but also very much alive for the Roman-Carthaginian community. 113

130 CHAPTER III: CYPRIAN FROM THE MATERFAMILIA TO THE MATRONA Cyprian s utilisation of Mater Ecclesia or just Mater, 1 is characterised by his emphasis on the demarcation between those inside and outside the Church, in continuation of the tradition set by his predecessor, Tertullian, but seemingly more intensively as he deals with a community beset with persecution initially under the Decian decree (250 CE). 2 The idea of the maternal ecclesial metaphor as tool for demarcation between outsiders and insiders is supported by Cyprian s dictum: Habere iam non potest Deum patrem qui ecclesiam non habet matrem ( You cannot have God for your Father if you have not the Church for your mother ), where those who have turned their back from the Church are described as alienus est, profanus est, hostis est ( an alien, a worldling, an enemy ). 3 This chapter will go on to examine Cyprian s further development and usage of the Mother Church metaphor and argue that his imagery was influenced by the contextual Roman culture and in particular the Imperial propaganda that was using the image of the fecund and faithful matrona to promote peace and stability within the unsettled Empire. It will be argued that rather than simply rejecting this pagan influence, Cyprian appropriates the culturally resonant image of the Mother in order to make a similar plea for Christian unity in his context of persecution and divisive heresy. 1 Plumpe says by this time Mother Church was sometimes simply referred to as the Mother. In Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, Peper says Cyprian engages the maternal ecclesial phrase in a more exclusionary role. In Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", De Unit 6 in Cyprian, "The Lapsed (ACW)", Bevenot, Full text of De Unit 6 in Latin in CCSL 3:

131 Marcel Poorthuis theory that the mother metaphor was also applied to attend to Cyprian s Christian-Jewish audience will also be explored, taking into account what resonances and implications appear in the naming of the Church community as a Mother. What begins to emerge here then is the development of more complex images of Mother Church. She will no longer be simply just a mother but will be described by Cyprian as mothersister-bride or mother-bride. Despite the introduction of these more complicated images, this chapter will argue that the formidable maternal figure represented by the ancient Roman matrona will be the more dominant image projected of the Mother Church. The chapter begins with Cyprian s background, significance and rhetorical methods before exploring the Mother Church texts and contexts. Background & Significance Caecilius Cyprianus Thascius ( CE), also known as St Cyprian, became bishop of Carthage in 248 or 249 CE, despite his young age, and against the opinion of five prominent Carthaginian leaders, one of who was Fortunatus, later to be condemned by the council of 251 CE as part of Felicissimus schismatic laxist group. 4 From 250 to 251 CE, during persecutions under the Decian religious decree to promote imperial unity, Cyprian escaped to the hills, writing letters to his community but leaving them vulnerable to chaos without the physical presence of their leader. 5 On his return, when the persecutions ceased, he faced the clergy and confessors 4 Frend, A New Eusebius, 99; Allen Brent, Cyprian and Roman Carthage (Cambridge/ New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), J. Patout Burns, Cyprian the Bishop, Routledge Early Church Monographs (London/ New York: Routledge, 2002), 2. For evidence of Cyprian s withdrawal from Carthage, see Eps.7.1, , and In Ep.7.1 Cyprian gives reason for his withdrawal, believing that his retreat was the best way to create peace in the community. Further, he extends the definition of martyrdom to include flight and exile as one of its forms (Ep ), providing justification for his own flight from Carthage. 115

132 who undertook actions that would cause them and others to acts of apostasy and schism from the Church. The Christian Carthiginian community, pre-decian period, voluntarily separated itself in religious practice from the surrounding culture, for example, avoiding pagan religious oaths during business transactions, and would present as a fairly tight bonded group. 6 Yet they continued to engage in routine interactions with the dominant culture, relying on the Roman economy for their livelihood, and applied the Roman class system of distinguishing between the honestiores and humiliores (the honoured versus the lowly) to what should have been a community of equals, posing various points of conflict for the community. These and other internal ecclesial disputes left the community vulnerable by the time of Decian s decree, which by then forced the Christians to choose between two societies, ecclesial or Roman, and consequently their two behaviour patterns and reward systems. 7 Cyprian would utilize the maternal ecclesial metaphor to remove any doubt in the mind of the Carthaginian Christians what their belief and practice should be. Part of that utilization was not only about calling Carthiginian Christians to unite within the Church, their Mother, but also to embody that mothering in himself. Plumpe would describe Cyprian s engagement with his community as: animated with the extremely active and warm-hearted concern of a great pastor among a flock identified by the Christianorum novum nomen, people who were not at all certain, as it proved, whether they should live by abjuring that name or die by the sword professing it; and when the arm of bloody persecution was momentarily stayed, these 6 ibid., Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia, 81; ibid. 116

133 people looked to him for his best spiritual antitoxins against the virus of pestilence and schism. 8 Plumpe would even go so far as to describe Cyprian s approach as representing the fatherhood of God and motherhood of the Church through his actions and writing, a move he claims is unsurpassed by any other Patristic writer. 9 Cyprian was certainly known for his tireless dedication to his community even if at times exercised from afar (that is, whilst in hiding during the Decian persecution and whilst banished awaiting execution during the Valerian persecution). 10 G.W. Clarke describes Cyprian as a man, who, whatever else, cared, whilst upholding that supremely Roman virtue of pietas, a familial loyalty towards God, his Father and his Mother, the Church, as well as towards the sons entrusted to his tutelage. 11 Thus Cyprian s devotion was directed not just to his diocesan community but also to his Father God and Mother Church. Peper shows that Cyprian s location of the Mother Church evolved from being situated in the entire community, to focusing on himself as the bishop, and finally to within the college of bishops, representing their communities, united in belief and practice. 12 This theory explained the need to use mother as metaphor for unity and demarcation but not why the particular image mother was adopted, except for the reason that it was a given that the Church was called a mother. Peper s theory that at some stage Cyprian saw the Mother Church located in the seat of the bishop, supports 8 ibid. 9 ibid. 10 Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa, Smither, G.W. Clarke Introduction, in Cyprian, "The Letters of St Cyprian of Carthage," Ancient Christian Writers, (New York/ New Jersey: Ramsey/ Newman Press, 1984), 20. Cyprian Vol 1, ACW Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia",

134 Plumpe s suggestion that Cyprian as bishop even spoke as Mother Church herself. Cyprian utilized this as one of his central ecclesial metaphors to communicate his understanding of Church in the thirty plus times he applied the phrase over his years as bishop. 13 Cyprian was criticised on two opposite fronts: by the laxists on one side, for his harshness in demanding public penance for the lapsi--the lapsed, those who had given up their faith by claiming to sacrifice to the gods of the Roman state whether they physically did so or not; and by the rigorists on the other, for allowing the lapsi to return to communion with the Church at all. Criticism of him would also come from the Bishop of Rome, Stephen ( CE), successor to Cornelius ( ). Cyprian faced many challenges throughout his bishopric. His community experienced intermittent persecutions under the Emperors Decian, Valerian and Gallienus. He was exiled to Curubis in August 257 CE. His end came during the Valerian persecutions, where he was beheaded near Carthage, on September 14, 258 CE. Cyprian s Rhetorical Method Allen Brent sees Cyprian s Roman pagan upbringing as highly influential in his role as bishop. 14 In his view, whilst Cyprian adamantly detested his pagan past, he was inevitably influenced by it and expressed it in his ordering of Church structure. Similarly Vincent Hunink says that whilst Cyprian wished to leave the world, he was very much a man of the 13 ibid., Brent, Cyprian and Roman Carthage, Moreover, Brent presents Cyprian as applying Roman jurisprudence onto the Church, destroying the basis for the Church of Martyrs for the benefit of gaining absolute episcopal control and a hoped for but failed unity in the Church. In ibid.,

135 world. 15 Brent points out that [o]ur human consciousness is inevitably bound and conditioned by our existence in historical space and time, using Wittgenstein to reiterate his point: a moral rebel arises within a form of life. 16 Brent s proposal that Cyprian s Roman cultural formation was applied in his ordering of the Carthaginian Church supports the thought of many authors (Rankin, Peper, Evers, and Hunink) 17 who propose that Cyprian s ecclesiological outlook was not left unaffected by his Roman cultural surroundings despite his rejection of it. 18 In contrast, Peter Hinchliff states that Roman culture had no appeal to Cyprian and he did not utilize any part of it in his rhetoric. However, the evidence from Hinchliff s own work indicates otherwise. He states that Cyprian had a pagan-roman mindset. 19 He also says that Cyprian hankered after a dignified, moral Roman past and that he became a Christian, at least in part, in revulsion against the degradation of Roman society. He longed for the kind of world that there had once been Vincent Hunink, "St Cyprian, A Christian and Roman Gentleman," in Cyprian of Carthage: Studies in His Life, Language and Thought ed. Henk Bakker, Paul Van Geest, and Hans Van Loon(Leuven/ Paris/ Walpole/ MA: Peeters, 2010), Brent, Cyprian and Roman Carthage, Cyprian in Rankin, From Clement to Origen, 72-80, at 75-77; Peper, "The Development of Mater Ecclesia", , esp. p.89; Alexander Wilhelmus Henricus Evers, ""Post Populi Suffragium" Cyprian of Carthage and the Vote of the People in Episcopal Elections," in Cyprian of Carthage : Studies in his Life, Language, and Thought, ed. Henk Bakker, Paul van Geest, and Hans van Loon(2010); Hunink, "St Cyprian, A Christian and Roman Gentleman."; Peter Bingham Hinchliff, Cyprian of Carthage and the Unity of the Christian Church (London: G. Chapman, 1974), 15, 17, 22-26, esp At the same time, Brent falls short of explaining Cyprian s particular use of mater ecclesia for the Church when he investigates the prevalence of mother-goddess images in the Roman city of Carthage. Brent alludes only to its Roman pagan origins on a wall panel of the Ara Pacis and the altar of the Gens Augusta but does not continue the discussion. In Brent, Cyprian and Roman Carthage, Hinchliff, Cyprian of Carthage and the Unity of the Christian Church, ibid., 33. Clarke similarly points to Cyprian as a product of his time and environment, as a Christian who lives in the third century, an age of increasing superstition generally and of growing fondness for the occult Despite his skill and drive as a practical administrator, Cyprian appears to act, strangely, but on the testimony of his own words, not infrequently at the behest and monition of visions, divine signs, and 119

136 Typical of the African mindset at the time, Cyprian sees religion as hard, sacrificial, and costly. 21 But with the same rhetorical approach as Tertullian (whom Cyprian called the master ), Cyprian does not present any middle ground when he sought to convince Christians to stay within the boundaries of Mother Church. He presents only a clear-cut and mutually exclusive choice. Where the Mother Church is utilized in his writings, she is often someone to be forsaken/abandoned ( deserere in Ep ), rejected/refused ( recusauit in Ep ), denied ( negauererunt in De Lap 9) and separated from as children ( a matre filios segregate in De Unit.19), OR whom one returns to ( reuertamini in Ep ; reuertantur in Ep ; redeant in Ep ; reuertentes in De Lap 2), remains with ( remanerent in Ep ), cleave to ( tenerent in Ep ), make peace with ( pacem in Eps ; ; ) or be gathered, in her bosom ( in sinum matris recollegi in Ep ; matris sinum atque conplexum in Ep ). Cyprian does not make these exhortations to come to the Mother or remain with her as authoritarian commands. Rather, he wishes to affectionately persuade his audience using both reason and emotional appeals: For my part I hope, dearest brethren, and I urge and press it upon you, that, if possible, not one of the brethren should perish, but that our Mother should have the happiness of clasping to her bosom all our people in one like-minded body Nothing that is separated from the source 22 [quicquid dreams In Introduction, Trans. and annotated by G. W. Clarke, Cyprian, "Letters (ACW)", Clarke, Hinchliff, Cyprian of Carthage and the Unity of the Christian Church, ACW translates matrice as parent stock but I have replaced it with the more appropriate word source (especially in regard to this study). 120

137 a matrice discesserit] can ever live or breathe apart; all hope of its salvation is lost. 23 In speaking to ecclesiastical virgins, he demonstrates again a desire to convince them with caring arguments: To these I speak these I exhort with affection rather than with power; not that I would claim, last and least, and very conscious of my lowliness as I am, any right to censure, but because, being unceasingly careful even to solicitude, I fear more from the onset of Satan. 24 Rankin says Juvenal described Africa as the nurse of pleaders [that is advocates], as a place, unlike Rome, where one could still make a living through oratory. 25 Moreover, in the epistles in which Mother Church is utilised, Clarke often describes the tone as measured and even anxious, keen to win its audience and not offend, but at the same time intent on clarifying Cyprian s position as bishop. 26 Burns explains the significance of this measured rhetorical approach: to achieve the success that they did, Cyprian s exhortations had to reflect the actual conditions in the community. Fabrications, blatant lies or outrageous interpretations of events would have discredited Cyprian and failed to win the support of the clergy and laity who were in danger De Unit 23 in Cyprian, "The Lapsed (ACW)", Bevenot, Latin: Opto equidem, dilectissimi fratres, et consulo pariter et suadeo ut, si fieri potest, nemo de fratribus pereat, et consentientis populi corpus unum gremio suo gaudens mater includat quicquid a matrice discesserit, seorsum uiuere et spirare non poterit: substantiam salutis amittit. CCSL3: One wonders if Cyprian sought a kind of word play in his use of matrice possibly helping his audience s disassociation or separation with the Mother (Church) as unthinkable. 24 De Hab 3 in Cyprian, "The Writings of Cyprian Bishop of Carthage," Ante Nicene Christian Library, (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1876), 336. Cyprian Vol 1, ANC Vol 8. Latin: Ad has loquimur, has adhortamur affectione potius quam potestate; non quod, extremi et minimi et humilitatis nostrae admodum conscii, aliquid ad censuram licentiae vindicemus, sed quod, ad sollicitudinem magis cauti plus de diaboli infestatione timeamus. PL 4: Rankin, From Clement to Origen, From Notes to Letters 15, 41, 46, 47, 48, 69, in Cyprian, "Letters (ACW)", Clarke. Cyprian, Vols.1-4, ACW Vols. 43, 44, 46, Burns, Cyprian the Bishop,

138 The appeals are not only present in the epistles, Rankin shows Cyprian s rhetorical method in De Unitate: In chapter 1, Cyrian uses the classic exordium where Cyprian seeks the goodwill of his readers. 28 In chapters 2-3 he uses a narratio 29 ; In 4, a praemunitio 30 and chapters 5 to 20, a probatio 31 ; From chapters 21 to 24, a peroratio 32 is used where Cyprian makes a series of emotional pleas to the virgins to hold fast to the unity of the church. 33 The Mother Church passages observed in this section, De Unitate 5 and 6, fall within the context of a probatio that utilizes pathos, rational argument used alongside an emotional appeal. Similarly Rankin says De Lapsis evidences the use of emotional appeal on its audience within the narratio of chapter 4 and the peroratio of chapters 32 to 36. The first three chapters present an exordium, and chapters 5 to 26, a probatio. The Mother Church texts in De Lapsis, chapters 2 and 9, fall within the category of a probatio, a proof or demonstration. Mother Church Texts and Contexts Within Cyprian s extensive written corpus, including over 81 epistles, only 3 books and 15 letters utilise the Mother Church metaphor or image and sometimes simply the Mother : De Habitu Virginis (De Hab, 28 Rankin, From Clement to Origen, A relating, narrating, a narration, narrative. In Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879). 30 of an orator, who prepares the minds of his hearers for what he has further to say, a preparation, in ibid. 31 In rhetoric, the third part of a discourse, also called confirmatio or fides orationis, in which the orator enumerates his arguments. In ibid. For Cicero, probatio is the presentation of rational proof used alongside pathos (which is an appeal to the emotions) and ethos (the presentation of a character to win credibility and goodwill). In Cicero s Rhetoric, from the Classical Resource Centre web net, Accessed July 17, the finishing part, the close or winding up of a speech, the peroration. In ibid. 33 Rankin, From Clement to Origen,

139 On the Dress of Virgins, c.248), De Lapsis (De Lap, On the Lapsed, c.251), De Unitate Ecclesiae (De Unit, On the Unity of the Catholic Church, c.251), and Epistolae (Ep., Letters 10, 15, 16, 41 34, 43 35, c.250; Ep. 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, c.251; Ep. 59, c.252; Ep , 71, c.255; and Ep. 73, 74, c.256) Who is the Mother? Like Tertullian s Mother Church, Cyprian s also births new Christians through baptism: Now the birth of Christians is in baptism; and the generation and sanctification of baptism are with the one bride of Christ [sponsam Christi]. She alone is capable of spiritually bearing and giving birth to sons to God. This being so, where and of what mother and to whom is he born who is not a son of the Church? If a man is to have God for Father, he must first have the Church for mother. [Vt habere quius possit deum patrem, habeat ante ecclesiam matrem]. 38 Seen here, Cyprian keeps Tertullian s pairing of Mother Church with Father God (see also De Lap 9, De Unit 6). However, along with Father God as progenitor of Mother Church s offspring, Cyprian now goes beyond Tertullian in also adding Christ as her bridegroom. Such a mixing of metaphors will become increasingly common in language used regarding 34 Clarke dates Ep.41 as early March, 251 CE. In Notes on Letter 41, in Cyprian, "Letters (ACW)", Clarke, 200. Cyprian Vol 2, ACW Clarke dates Ep.43 as early to mid-march, 251 CE. In Notes on Letter 43, in ibid., 211. Cyprian Vol 2, ACW Clarke approximates the date of Ep.69 after the death of Cornelius in June 253 but before the Council meeting of Ep.70, possibly in spring 255. In Notes on Letter 69, in ibid., 174. Cyprian Vol 4, ACW Chronology from Edward White Benson, Cyprian: His Life, His Times, His Work (London; New York: Macmillan, 1897), xxii-xxiii. 38 Ep , in Cyprian Vol 4, ACW 47, p.74. Latin: Cum autem natiuitas christianorum in baptismo sit, baptismi autem generatio et sanctifictio apud solam sponsam Christi sit, quae parere spiritaliter et generare filios deo possit, ubi et ex qua et cui natus est qui filius ecclesiae non est? Vt habere quis possit deum patrem, habeat ante ecclesiam matrem. CCSL3B: See also Eps , ; De Hab 3, De Unit 4,

140 Mother Church, as the image gains traction. Mother Church is now both bride of Christ and spouse of the Father. Unlike Tertullian, Cyprian places less emphasis on the teaching function of Mother Church. Rather, he utilizes the ecclesial maternal metaphor to project an image of the Church as the source of the (spiritual) life ( radices Eps , , ; De Unit 4, 5), the location of truth ( ueritatem Ep ) and the only one who can spiritually bear and give birth to sons and daughters of God ( parere spiritaliter et generare filios deo Eps , ; De Lap 9; De Unit 6). Mother Church gathers children at her bosom or embrace ( matris sinum atque conplexum Eps , , , ), rejoices at their return to her (Ep , De Lap 2, De Unit 23) or in the increase in number of her virgin children ( quantoque plus copiosa virgintas numero suo addit, tanto plus gaudium matris augescit De Hab 3), and bewails the loss of them all ( lacrimas matris ecclesiae quae plangit ruinas et funera plurimorum Ep ). These uses of the maternal ecclesial metaphor all point toward a dominant purpose of highlighting the location of faith, truth, and salvation. This location is given a persona with emotions ( lacrimas matris. Ep ; cf. also Eps , De Hab 3, De Lap 2, De Unit 23), a crucial familial role as intermediary between God and God s children (eg. Ante est ut a domino pacem mater prior sumat, tunc secundum uestra desideria de filiorum pace tractetur Ep ), and is discerned as the Catholic Church ( scimus nos hortatos eos esse urt ecclesiae catholicae radicem et matricem agnoscerent ac tenerent, Ep ). Meanwhile, Cyprian calls the Church of the heretics the stepmother ( matris nouerca ) who impedes [the 124

141 children of mother Church] from reaching their true mother s healing embrace ( salutaris sinus matris nouerca intercedente cluditur Ep ). 39 Only the true mother, the true Christian Church can spiritually birth if she is not just the bride of God Father but also the bride of Christ: Now if rebirth is in this washing, that is to say, in baptism, how can heresy, which is not the bride of Christ, give birth to sons, and through Christ, to God? It is the Church alone, being joined and united to Christ, who spiritually gives birth to sons, as the same Apostle once again says: Christ loved the Church and He gave Himself up for her, so that he might sanctify her, washing and cleansing her by water. And so, if she is His beloved, the bride who alone is sanctified by Christ and alone is cleansed by His washing, then obviously heresy, being no bride of Christ and incapable of being cleansed or sanctified by His washing, is also incapable of giving birth to sons to God The Introduction of Complex Images As mentioned above the maternal ecclesial metaphor was often associated with words that present a stark choice to the Christian Carthiginian audience--remain or return to the Church OR reject or forsake the Mater Ecclesia. The earlier letters Eps.15, 16, and 41 urge their audiences to make peace with the mother (Eps , , ) and be gathered within her bosom or embrace (Eps ; ; ). But by Ep.69, whilst continuing to refer to the mother, a singular image, 39 Ep Cyprian, "Letters (ACW)", Clarke, Cyprian Vol 3, ACW 46. Latin: Miserorum paenitentiam mendaciorum suorum fraude corrumpunt, ne deo indignanti satisfiat Pax uera falsae pacis mendacio tollitur, salutaris sinus matris nouerca intercedente cluditur, ne de pectore atque ore lapsorum fletus et gemitus audiatur. CCSL3C: ; Ep , in ibid., Cyprian Vol 4, ACW 47. Latin: Si autem in alauacro id est in baptismo est regeneratio, quomodo generare filios deo haeresis per Christum potest quae Christi sponsa non est? Ecclesia est enim sola quae Christo coniuncta et adunata spiritaliter filios generat eodem apostolo rursus dicente: Christus dilexit ecclesiam et se ipsum tradiditpro ea ut eam santificaret, purgans eam lauacro aquae. Si igiturhaec et dilecta et sponsa quae sola a Christo sanctificatur et lauacro eius sola purgatur, manifestum est haeresim, quae sponsa Christi non sit nec purgari nec snactificari lauacro eius possit, filios deo generare non posse. CCSL3B: See also Ep and De Unit

142 Cyprian introduces the more complex images of mother-sister-bride to point his audience to the true source of life ( una est matri suae hortus conclusus soror mea sponsa, fons signatus, puteus aquae uiuae, Ep c ? CE Clarke, 255 CE - Benson) and mother-bride to emphasise the Church as the only place of baptism ( Ecclesia est enim sola quae Christo coniuncta et adunata spiritaliter filios generat Ep , c.256 CE). Cyprian s complex imaging of Mother Church was present by 248 CE (as mother and virgin, De Hab 3) and 251 CE (as mother and daughter, De Unit 4). But these were isolated instances: in De Hab 3, Cyprian sought to singularly address ecclesial virgins 41 and in De Unit 4, Cyprian first denounced Novatian. 42 The oneness of the Church would be highlighted at 251 CE, after the first condemnation of Novatian by Cyprian, a warning to Cyprian s audience not to join Novation s faction. It will be at least two years later, in 253 CE, when the urgency of emphasizing the purity of the Church would become the greater concern. For it was at this time that those who wished to return to Mother Church but were baptized under Novatian will be criticized by Cyprian. In this criticism Cyprian would emphasize Mother Church as the one and only bride in Epistle 69. In this letter he would employ Song of Song 6:8 to project the mother-sister-bride image: That the Church is one is declared by the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs, speaking in the person of Christ: My dove, my perfect one, is but one: she is the only one of her mother, the favourite of her who bore her. And the Spirit again says of her: An enclosed garden is my sister, my bride, a sealed fountain, a well of living water. Now if the bride of Christ (that is to say, the Church) is an enclosed garden, then it is just not possible that something which is closed up should lie 41 Brent, Cyprian and Roman Carthage, Dates of events and corresponding treatises and letters from Benson, Cyprian: His Life, His Times, His Work, xxii-xxiii. 126

143 wide open to outsiders and aliens. And if it is a sealed fountain, then it is just not possible for a man to drink from it or to be sealed at it if, being placed on the outside, he is without access to that fountain. And if it is the one and only well of living water and it, too, is found on the inside, then it is just not possible for a man who is placed on the outside to be given life and sanctification through that water: they and they alone who are on the inside are granted permission to drink of it or to make use of it in anyway. 43 Clarke states that epistle 69 was the first evidence of the Novationist baptismal dispute that had been going on for some time. 44 In the letter Cyprian utilized heavily on his arguments from De Unitate. Clarke describes the dispute as not yet becoming bitter but Cyprian s views were carefully couched as personal reactions only since the debate had neither gone public nor escalated into a complex stage. The letter addressed a group (via Magnus) that had been following the tradition of rebaptising converts from heresy but now wish to make an exception of Novationists. The tradition contradicted the local African practice, which was, not to recognize heretical baptisms. Cyprian was disturbed by the whole affair as his position on fundamental questions on the Church, trinity, grace, ministry and sacraments were seen to be under attack. Clarke says Cyprian s agitation did not derive from an egocentric concern but rather a concern that the Church was being polluted by the admittance of the unclean, those who have actually been washed by inauthentic baptismal waters Ep , in Cyprian, "Letters (ACW)", Clarke., Cyprian Vol 4, ACW 47, pp Latin: Quod autem ecclesia una sit declarat in cantico canticorum spiritus sanctus ex persona Christi dicens:una est columba mea, perfecta mea, una est matri suae, electa genetrici suae. De qua item denuo dicit: hortus conclusus soror mea sponsa, fons signatus, puteus aquae uiuae. Si autem hortus conclusus est sponsa Christi quae est ecclesia, patere res clausaalienis et profanis nonpotest. Et si fons signatus est, nequebibere inde neque consignari potest cui foris posito accessus ad fontem non est. Puteus quoque aquae uiuae si unus est, idem qui intus est, uiuificari et sanctificari foris positus ex illa aqua non potest, ex qua solis eis qui intus sunt usus omnis et potusconcessus est. CCSSL3C: Notes on Letter 69, in ibid., 173. Cyprian Vol 4, ACW See Notes on Letter 69, in ibid., Cyprian Vol 4, ACW 47, pp

144 Burns describes letter 69 as distinct from his earlier arguments where Cyprian simply argued for the unity of the Church and set out the Church s baptismal structure. Here, he attack[s] the attempted usurpation of the episcopate and the tone and argument of the letter belong to the intense conflict which arose in the summer of 256, a conflict clearly focused on the Novationist schism. 46 Cyprian utilized the scriptural text from Song of Songs 6:8 as he did in De Unit 4 to communicate an urgency concerning the protection of the Church s holiness in terms of the Novationist debate. Thus one finds in this letter the introduction of the more complex image of the Church as mother-bride-sister. Only at Ep does the Church become this incongruous image of mother, bride, and sister, all at the same time, to Christ. There will be other incongruous images introduced too. As mentioned above, another image is found at De Unit 4 where the Church is a mother and a daughter to itself: De Hab 3 shows another incongruous image, that of the mothervirgin Church: Indeed this oneness of the Church is figured in the Canticle of Canticles when the Holy Spirit, speaking in Our Lord s name, says: One is my dove, my perfect one: to her mother she is the only one, the darling of her womb. If a man does not hold fast to this oneness of the Church, does he imagine that he still holds the faith? 47 My address is now to virgins, whose glory, as it is more eminent, excites the greater interest. This is the flower of the ecclesiastical seed, the grace and ornament of spiritual endowment, a joyous disposition, the wholesome and 46 Burns, Cyprian the Bishop, De Unit 4 in Cyprian, "The Lapsed (ACW)", Bevenot, 47. Latin: Quam unam ecclesiam etiam in Cantico Canticorum Spiritus sanctus ex persona Domini designat, et dicit: Vna est columba mea, perfecta mea, una est matri suae, electa genetrici suae. Hanc ecclesiae unitatem qui non tenet, tenere se fidem credit? CCSL3: (column 2). The concept of the Church as dove will later be explored through Poorthuis theory of the dove s relevance for Cyprian s Jewish-Christian audience. 128

145 uncorrupted work of praise and honour, God s image answering to the holiness of the Lord, the more illustrious portion of Christ s flock. The glorious fruitfulness of Mother church rejoices by their means, and in them abundantly flourishes; and in proportion as copious virginity is added to her number, so much the more it increases the joy of the Mother. 48 Whilst Tertullian also named the Church as virgin, he did not image it as mother at the same time (On Modesty, De Pudicita 1.8-9). 49 Paradoxically for Cyprian, the increase in the Church s fecundity becomes dependent on the increase of its virginity through the number of virgins being added to its membership. Cyprian s introduction of compoundincongruous maternal ecclesial metaphors can be clearly seen through these developments that will be taken up and expanded upon by Ambrose and Augustine. 3. Mother Church as Mater-Sponsa Even with the introduction of more complex and incongruous images, the mother-spouse image, like that of Tertullian s Mother Church as materfamilia, remained as found in Ep This letter especially utilises the image of Church as mother-bride without explicit use of the word mater and its corollaries. Instead the letter implies its image by describing her function as birthing ( nascitur in , natiuitas 48 De Hab 3 in Cyprian, "The Writings of Cyprian (ANCL)", Wallis, 336. Cyprian Vol 1, ANC Vol 8. Latin: Nunc nobis ad virgines sermo est; quarum quo sublimior gloria est, major et cura est. Flos est ille ecclesiastici germinis, decus atque ornamentum gratiae spiritalis, laeta indoles, laudis et honoris opus integrum atque incorruptum, Dei imago respondens ad sanctimoniam Domini, illustrior portio gregis Christi. Gaudet per illas atque in illis largiter floret Ecclesiae matris gloriosa foecunditas; quantoque plus copiosa virginitas numero suo addit, tanto plus gaudium matris augescit. PL 4: Ariel Laughton notes that Tertullian was the first identifiable Latin author to term virgins brides of Christ in De Resurrectione Carnis 61.6 [PL 2, 884] and De Virginibus Velandis 7 [PL 2, ] in footnote 83 of Ariel Bybee Laughton, Virginity Discourse and Ascetic Politics in the Writings of Ambrose of Milan (Duke University, 2010), For the quote, cf. p.90 above. 129

146 74.7.2). One finds this birthing function also in De Hab 3 ( in illis largiter floret Ecclesiae matris gloriosa foecunditas ) and in De Unit 5 ( et una mater fecunditatis successibus copiosa: illius fetu nascimur ). Along with the mother-bride image, Ep.74 also utilizes the pairing of Father-God and Mother-Church concept. Of all the letters, it is only within this epistle that this pairing is highly evident and in which one finds an adaptation of Cyprian s dictum from De Unit 6, Habere iam non potest Deum patrem qui ecclesiam non habet matrem, 51 into Vt habere quius possit deum patrem, habeat ante ecclesiam matre. (Ep ). 52 It is as if Cyprian sought to employ as much imagery and proof as he could (Mother-Bride and Father God-Mother Church) to put forward his argument of the Church s clear boundaries against heretic baptizers who would pollute the Church. 53 The exclusive and exclusionary image of Mother Church as the one and only bride is initially presented in De Unit 6: The spouse of Christ cannot be defiled, she is inviolate and chaste; she knows one home alone, in all modesty she keeps faithfully to one only couch. It is she who rescues us for God, she who seals for the kingdom the sons whom she has borne. Whoever breaks with the Church and enters on an adulterous union, cuts himself off from the promises made to the Church; and he who has turned his back on the Church and enters on an adulterous union, cuts himself off from the promises made to the Church; and he who has turned his back on the Church of Christ shall not come to the rewards of Christ: he is an alien, a worldling, an enemy. You cannot 51 You cannot have God for your Father if you have not the Church for your mother. De Unit 6 in Cyprian, "The Lapsed (ACW)", Bevenot, 48. Latin from CCSL 3: ff. 52 If a man is to have God for Father, he must first have the Church for mother. Ep , in Cyprian, "Saint Cyprian: Letters (1-81)," The Fathers of the Church, (New York: The Catholic University of America Press, 1964), 74. Cyprian Vol 4, ACW 47. Full Latin text from CCSL3B: For a concise summary of the issues surrounding epistle 74, see Notes on Letter 74, in Cyprian, "Letters (ACW)", Clarke, Cyprian Vol 4, ACW

147 have God for your Father if you have not the Church for your mother. 54 As the chaste and virtuous bride or spouse of Christ, Mother Church here parallels the celebrated image of the univira, the Roman ideal of the woman who has known only one husband, even after his death. She has stayed true to him and in this, in part, promoted the Augustan moral legislations on marriage (lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus, 18 BCE) and adultery (lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis, 17 BCE). Like these leges Julia, which stated that unions created outside of marriage and concubinage would result in banishment, 55 so did Cyprian s statement above implied that unions other than with Mother Church herself would result in the banishment of the child of the Church Mother Church s Remaining Simple Maternal Image Despite Cyprian s multifaceted uses of the image, the representation of the Church simply as a birthing and nurturing mother remains his most common use of the metaphor (20 out of instances of its appearances in Cyprian s texts). Cyprian presents Mother Church as a mother to infants ( of her womb are we born, of her milk are we fed, of her Spirit our souls draw their life-breath De Unit 5 58 ), one who gathers her children to her lap 54 For other texts emphasising the inseparability of Mother Church from Father God, see Eps , , , De Unit 4 and De Lap Jane F. Gardner, Women in Roman Law and Society (London: Routledge, 1986), In addition, the convicted adulterous woman lost half her dowry and one-third of her property. The convicted adulterous man lost half his property and banished to various islands. Convicted men of lower status were relegated to mines and hard labour. In ibid., Eps , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; De Lap 2, De Unit 5, 19, 23. The remaining Mother Church texts present a more complex image either as mother-sister-bride, mother-bride/spouse, mother-virgin, or mother-virgin: Eps , , ; De Hab 3; De Lap 9; De Unit 4, De Unit 5, in Cyprian, "The Lapsed (ACW)", Bevenot, 48. Latin: illius fetu nascimur, illius lacte nutrimur, spiritu eius animamur. CCSL3:

148 or bosom ( in sinum matris Eps , , salutaris sinus Ep , sinu excipit mater ecclesiae De Lap 2, et consentientis populi corpus unum gremio suo gaudens mater includat De Unit 23). 59 This was also the common picture of the Mother projected in art and literature in ancient Roman society, as was seen in the figure of Livia (58 BCE 29 CE) especially as she was portrayed in the Ara Pacis Augustae Monument. 60 The next section will show how Livia, the wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar, was used to portray this particular message to the Roman Empire a message that the Emperor believed Roman citizens needed in a time of uncertainty and instability for the Empire. This chapter will then point to the possibility that Cyprian utilizes a similar propaganda when portraying the Mother Church. 5. Propaganda and the ancient Roman Matrona Livia, the wife of the Emperor Augustus and mother to his heir, Tiberius, was used by her husband to promote his vision of the archetypal matrona. She became a symbol of ideal Roman womanhood: the one whose virtuous behavior and fertility exemplified the tenets of Augustus moral and marriage legislation. 61 She was made sacrosanct by Augustus (35 BCE) when he was alive, and elevated further at his death/divinization where she became his principal priestess and was henceforth named Julia Augusta (14 CE). 62 Augustan propaganda constructed her as an archetype of 59 Cf. De Unit 4 as quoted in p.93 above. 60 Barbara Spaeth, "The Goddess Ceres in the Ara Pacis Augustae and the Carthage Relief," American Journal of Archaeology 98, no. 1 (1994); Kleiner, ""Her Parents Gave Her the Name Claudia"," Kleiner, "Imperial Women as Patrons of the Arts," 28, Giroire and Roger say that Livia herself was deified in 42 CE in Rome, in Collection n.15 Portrait of Livia as Ceres, in Ce cile Giroire et al., Roman Art from the Louvre 132

149 what it meant to be a Roman woman; Livia represented beauty, fidelity, and fertility and through her marriage with Augustus, harmony and thus continuity. 63 Marriage itself was promoted by the Augustan moral reforms involving marriage and procreation--the leges Julia (18-17 BCE) and the lex Papia Poppae (9 CE). It was valued as a high Roman ideal exemplified by the existence of couples holding hands in numerous Roman funerary art, the dextrarum iunctio. 64 The presence of ideals such as fidelity and fertility ensured the consequent presence of two of among the highest of Roman ideals--pax and concordia, as they were portrayed on the Ara Pacis Augustae. The Ara Pacis Augustae or Altar of Peace was a monument built and dedicated to Augustus in Rome in 9 BCE, 65 in celebration of his pacification of the Roman Empire and his safe return from a long tour of the provinces. 66 Paul Zanker described the altar as depicting on its various wall panels the blessings of a peaceful reign using poetic and bucolic imagery. 67 Kleiner summarised the propaganda the altar sought to communicate as: Peace and its consequences for Italy and the world, for the Roman aristocracy and high-ranking provincials 68 Moreover, Kleiner suggested that this message of peace implicated growth and rebirth for the Roman Empire as exhibited by the presence of flourishing plants, the (New York: American Federation of Arts in association with Hudson Hills Press, 2009). 63 See Kleiner, ""Her Parents Gave Her the Name Claudia"," Diana E. E. Kleiner et al., I, Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome (New Haven, Conn./ Austin, Tex.: Yale University Art Gallery; Distributed by University of Texas Press, 1996), The Ara Pacis Augustae, in Diana E. E. Kleiner, Roman Sculpture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992), Paul Zanker, Roman Art (Los Angeles, Calif.: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2010), ibid. 68 Kleiner, Roman Sculpture,

150 presence of an abundance of fruits, and animals portrayed which symbolised a golden age. 69 Nancy Ramage and Andrew Ramage note that the fruits suspended from the garlands sculpted into the altar represented all four seasons of the year, so magical that they all bloomed at once, reminding the viewer that Augustus peace spanned the entire course of the year. 70 Of special interest is the portrayal of a youthful and beautiful matrona with two small children sitting on a kind of rock-hewn throne found on an external panel of the altar. 71 Ramage and Ramage state that the programmatic message of peace and prosperity [was] enhanced by mythological and allegorical imagery, as exhibited by this matron with two infants. 72 Various theories exist seeking to identify this matrona, but the evidence points to her as an image of Augustus empress-wife, Livia. 73 Whoever she was, the message communicated by the wall panel was the paradisiacal state of the world brought about by the Pax Augusta, 74 one filled with fertility, serenity, and abundance. 75 Further, Zanker described the panel as follows: It is an image of a golden age, the aurea aetas, which had been lauded by the poets and solemnly inaugurated by Augustus at the 69 ibid., Reliefs-Ara Pacis Augustae, in Nancy H Ramage and Andrew Ramage, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Roman Art (Cambridge/ New York/ Port Chester: Cambridge University Press, 1991), Kleiner, Roman Sculpture, 96; Spaeth, "The Goddess Ceres in the Ara Pacis": Ramage and Ramage, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Roman Art, ibid., 92-93; Kleiner, Roman Sculpture, Zanker, Roman Art, Kleiner describes the implications of the scene: Peace brings prosperity and time for planting and harvesting and the security to raise children and plan for the future through the peace brought to Italy by Augustus. The Ara Pacis Augustae in Kleiner, Roman Sculpture,

151 Secular Games (Ludi Latini saeculares). 76 Brent theorised that there was an intended ambiguity about the maternal figure and Kleiner would support this idea for she believed that the figure was meant to be a culmination of personifications and divinities. 77 Spaeth theorised that the figure of the woman with the two infants on the Eastern panel was actually of Livia portrayed as Ceres. 78 Diana Kleiner would observe that Livia, the emperor s female counterpart, was the foundation of the imperial family and the concordia of that family is one of the other significant themes of the Ara Pacis. 79 Fig 1: Livia as Ceres on a panel of the Ara Pacis Augustae Monument At the same time, on the southeast and northeast sides of the Ara Pacis the imperial women Livia, Julia, and Octavia occupy pride of place as wives and mothers amongst the men and children of significant social standing. Both Livia as Ceres and Roma appear as the main characters on 76 Zanker, Roman Art, 88; Kleiner, Roman Sculpture, Brent, Cyprian and Roman Carthage, 32; The Ara Pacis Augustae in Kleiner, Roman Sculpture, For the basis of her argument see Spaeth, "The Goddess Ceres in the Ara Pacis": The Ara Pacis Augustae, in Kleiner, Roman Sculpture,

152 the eastern external section of the monument, seated rather than in their usual standing position. Kleiner says of this uncommon seated position that it: serves to underscore the nurturing function of the women who were not the political movers and shakers but rather contributed to the Augustan peace through their marital fidelity and fecundity. The themes stressed in this side of the Ara Pacis are correct female behavior that included the inclination and ability to bear children through youthful fecundity, the joys of motherhood, the unbreakable bonds of family life, hereditary succession, and the general abundance brought to Rome and the empire by the Augustan peace. 80 Kleiner and Matheson argue that imperial mothers were projected as goddesses just as goddesses were projected as the imperial mothers to reinforce the Augustan program of peace as well as to portray ancient Roman societal values such as justitia ( justice, equity, righteousness, uprightness 81 ), concordia ( an agreeing together, union, harmony, concord 82 ), and pietas ( piety with respect to the gods, duty, dutifulness, affection, love, loyalty, patriotism, gratitude with respect to one s parents, children, relatives, country, benefactors ). 83 The purpose of such imperial art was neither simply ornamental nor whimsical but had its specific purpose of communicating: 80 The Ara Pacis Augustae in ibid., In Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary (1879 Print). 82 In Lewis, An Elementary Latin Dictionary. 83 In Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary (1879 Print). For the portrayal of Livia as Justitia and Pietas see Rolf Winkes, "Livia: Portrait and Propaganda " in I Claudia II: Women in Roman Art and Society, ed. Diana E. E. Kleiner and Susan B. Matheson(Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2000), 38; Diana E. E. Kleiner, "Family Ties: Mothers and Sons in Elite and Non-Elite Roman Art," in I Claudia II: Women in Roman Art and Society, ed. Diana E. E. Kleiner and Susan B. Matheson(Austin, USA: University of Texas Press, 2000), 49. For the portrayal of Livia as Pietas and Concordia see Cornelius C. Vermuele III, "Livia to Helena: Women in Power, Women in the Provinces," in I Claudia II: Women in Roman Art and Society, ed. Diana E. E. Kleiner and Susan B. Matheson(Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press 2000),

153 a feeling of security and trust in the permanence of the Empire. That is, in the domestic stability and order that the emperor guaranteed, and in this way it attempted to banish fear and uncertainty. The impact of the images was achieved through the reiteration of the same visual formulae in various media, the authority they derived from the gods and the myths, and, last but not least, the idealized beauty of the Greek forms employed. A crucial role was played by the fact that all citizens could participate in the process, since it allowed them to reaffirm their identity by associating themselves with the emperor s might Carthage s Own Ara Pacis Augustae Carthage would exhibit an adapted version of the Ara Pacis relief of the seated matron with the two infants and also would build its own temple to the gens Iulia: 85 Fig 2: Carthage s Own Version of the Ara Pacis panel There are a few differences between the Roman and the Carthaginian panel but both contain three central figures a seated matron with two infants and 84 Zanker, Roman Art, Brent, Cyprian and Roman Carthage, 24. For scholarship on the Ara Pacis as the original version of the Carthaginian relief, see Spaeth, "The Goddess Ceres in the Ara Pacis". footnotes 238 and 242 on p.95. The Carthage relief previous to 1960 was interpreted as a Hellenistic original possibly from Alexandria. 137